Savvy Advisors Inc. Has $3.09 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,251 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,532 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after purchasing an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,665,000 after buying an additional 46,699 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 378.7% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,120,000 after acquiring an additional 74,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $48.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $206.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $49.14.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.