Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,219,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,618,118 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $432,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on 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 reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $50.10 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.00 and its 200 day moving average is $47.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $208.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.