F m Investments LLC Buys 48,328 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

F m Investments LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 36.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 180,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 48,328 shares during the quarter. F m Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $982,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 523,578 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $23,011,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946 shares during the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 15.9% in the third quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,729 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $249,000. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $287,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Key Headlines Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4/earnings + guidance — Verizon beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.90–$4.95, reinforcing cash flow and dividend coverage that investors prize. This underpins the stock’s recent upward move and supports dividend-focused buying. MarketBeat VZ overview
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Oppenheimer set a new $56 price target on VZ, suggesting upside from current levels and giving investors confidence in consensus estimates and valuation support. Oppenheimer price target
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/enterprise traction — Coverage of Kodiak AI’s milestones highlights expanded partnerships with Verizon, signaling enterprise & network monetization opportunities beyond core wireless services. That diversification can boost long-term revenue potential. Kodiak AI partnership mention
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscriber momentum — Analysts note solid postpaid phone adds and fixed wireless subscriber growth, which improve churn and lifetime value but have yet to fully translate into stronger service revenue growth. This is constructive for ARPU stability and churn metrics. Zacks subscriber growth article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue ceiling risk — Despite subscriber gains, analysts and company commentary expect wireless service revenues to remain roughly flat near-term, which could cap share-price upside until service revenue or margin expansion resumes. Zacks revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/resilience narrative — Coverage highlighting Verizon as a high-yield, U.S.-focused defensive stock has driven demand from income-focused investors amid geopolitical volatility; this supports a higher valuation multiple relative to risk-off peers. MarketBeat dividend safe-haven piece

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4%

VZ opened at $51.36 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.83. The company has a market cap of $216.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% 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.