Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Position Lowered by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 74.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,414 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 57,081 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 5,851,715 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $4,168,080,000 after purchasing an additional 867,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $2,357,158,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon and BT Group announced a 50:50 joint venture to combine their international enterprise operations, which could strengthen Verizon’s global connectivity offering and improve its long-term competitiveness. Reuters article on BT, Verizon announce joint venture for international enterprise units
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary notes that the BT-Verizon deal could simplify Verizon’s international operations and better position the company for multinational enterprise customers, but the benefit is likely longer term. WSJ article on BT, Verizon to Form International Joint Venture
• Negative Sentiment: Verizon was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, creating index rebalancing pressure and likely heavy selling from passive funds tracking the benchmark. MSN article on Dow Jones S&P indices replaces Verizon with Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Verizon expects an estimated second-quarter loss tied to asset reclassification and restructuring charges added to concerns about earnings quality and near-term profitability. Seeking Alpha article on Verizon reclassifies assets, expects estimated Q2 loss
• Negative Sentiment: Broader telecom weakness was also amplified by speculation that SpaceX/Starlink could eventually challenge legacy wireless carriers, increasing competitive pressure on Verizon. Barron’s article on SpaceX might bring mobile phone to market

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.89.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

Verizon Communications Profile

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.