80,000 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Canal Insurance CO

Canal Insurance CO trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 47.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 88,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 80,000 shares during the period. Canal Insurance CO’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first 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 buying an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,164,982 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,915,882,000 after buying an additional 6,580,820 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.1% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 41,173,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,743,274,000 after buying an additional 5,075,794 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $184,260,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $132,893,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on VZ shares. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.80.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.93, for a total transaction of $47,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 101,066 shares in the company, valued at $4,338,763.38. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 8,800 shares of company stock worth $420,145 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of VZ traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.53. The company had a trading volume of 6,832,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,130,619. The stock has a market cap of $185.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.77. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.70%.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon’s Straight Talk prepaid brand upgraded its Silver, Gold and Platinum unlimited plans with more data, faster 5G and additional benefits without increasing base monthly prices. Home Internet bundle savings could support customer retention and subscriber growth. Straight Talk Supercharges Unlimited Plans with More Data, Faster 5G and Expanded Benefits
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon is introducing additional customer perks following price increases, an effort to add value and defend its wireless base as competition intensifies. The benefits may help offset customer sensitivity to higher prices. Verizon launches generous customer perks after raising prices
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon formally objected to ICE and OKX offering tokenized versions of its shares. The move limits an unauthorized trading channel and reflects broader regulatory scrutiny, but is unlikely to materially affect Verizon’s operating results or valuation. Objections to ICE and OKX’s Tokenized Stock Venue Climb to Nine as Broadcom, Verizon Opt Out
• Negative Sentiment: Verizon underperformed its competitors during the latest market session, while the broader market advanced. Its shares recently closed at $44.10, down 1.54% from the previous session, highlighting continued relative weakness. Verizon Communications Inc. stock underperforms Monday when compared to competitors
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street expects earnings growth in next week’s report, but a Zacks analysis says Verizon lacks the combination of estimate revisions and momentum that typically supports a likely earnings beat. That increases near-term event risk. Verizon Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Recent Q2 comparisons showed Verizon’s revenue declined year over year and lagged estimates, despite an adjusted EPS beat. Investors may remain focused on subdued top-line growth and competitive pressure heading into the next results.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.