Empowered Funds LLC Buys 290,920 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,165,380 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 290,920 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $49,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,357,158,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,286,423,000 after purchasing an additional 7,509,055 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,747,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

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

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $50.10 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The company has a market capitalization of $208.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio 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.