Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 14,595 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,268,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,595 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.25% of Verizon Communications worth $471,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 317,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,434,000 after buying an additional 25,156 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.0% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 184,170 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,798,000 after acquiring an additional 103,046 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,580 shares during the period. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,577,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 3,553,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $150,461,000 after acquiring an additional 315,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Arete Research decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Freedom Broker raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.05.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,866 shares in the company, valued at $4,251,238. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $516,373 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Verizon Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Better earnings and higher guidance: Verizon reported quarterly adjusted EPS of $1.31, above the $1.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 1.5% year over year. Growth in postpaid phone additions and broadband, lower promotional spending and margin expansion helped support an increase to the company’s 2026 outlook. Verizon raises 2026 guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Income appeal remains strong: Verizon’s dividend yield is above 6%, the company has raised its payout for 20 consecutive years, and dividends consumed approximately 49% of recent free cash flow. This supports the view that the payout is financially sustainable despite Verizon’s substantial debt load. Verizon dividend analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and supplier investment: Freedom Broker upgraded VZ from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target to $55. Separately, Verizon announced a $5 billion, five-year commitment to U.S. small-business suppliers, which could strengthen procurement relationships and support its network expansion ecosystem. Freedom Broker upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: SpaceX competition remains a long-term issue: Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said a fully competitive SpaceX wireless network could take years and require enormous investment. Verizon remains open to a Starlink partnership, but not one that would enable direct competition through Verizon’s infrastructure. Verizon CEO on Starlink partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Countervailing concerns: Several firms, including Barclays, Daiwa, Goldman Sachs and TD Cowen, lowered their price targets. Investors are also watching reports of declining phone upgrades, while CEO Kyle Malady’s recurring Rule 10b5-1 stock sales may weigh modestly on sentiment. Verizon phone upgrade trend

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of VZ opened at $44.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $186.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.68 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 72.19%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.