Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd Sells 249,445 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 77.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,122 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 249,445 shares during the quarter. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $762,000. Capital Square LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 18,253 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $769,000 after purchasing an additional 5,833 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 613,083 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,958,000 after purchasing an additional 45,922 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71,498 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 14,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 738,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,269,000 after purchasing an additional 45,113 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued 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 was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.70%.

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.