Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 116,605 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 844,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 116,605 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 52.4% in the second quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $48.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $206.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $50.24.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 69.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Company 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.