Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Position Lifted by Gould Capital LLC

Gould Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,355 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises about 2.2% of Gould Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Gould Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 78,723 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. now owns 3,261 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 112,238 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,752,000 after buying an additional 10,860 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 53,884 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,281,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Argyle Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Argyle Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,566 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 3,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $50.19 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 73.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total transaction of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,348,276.88. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.