Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,900,065 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 44,394 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $207,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after buying an additional 5,497,598 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after buying an additional 7,461,335 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,168,080,000 after buying an additional 867,694 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $49.34 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 109,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,348,276.88. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.