Sei Investments Co. Raises Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,511,914 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 259,595 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $154,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.03.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifted outlook and price targets—Oppenheimer raised its price target to $56 with an “outperform” call, backing upside vs. current levels. Oppenheimer Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded VZ to Sector Outperform, citing the shares as cheap at current levels—another boost to investor sentiment. Scotiabank Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain supportive: Q4 beat on EPS and revenue, strong postpaid and broadband net adds, Frontier acquisition expanded subscriber base, and management set FY26 EPS guidance (4.90–4.95) that keeps cash-flow and dividend narratives intact. Safe Stock / Conference Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial partnerships continue to expand—Kodiak AI disclosed deeper ties with Verizon around autonomous trucking deployments, reflecting potential incremental revenue or product integration opportunities. Kodiak AI Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Several media pieces profile Verizon as a “safe” dividend stock and highlight its 20-year dividend growth and ~5% yield—this supports income-focused demand but may not drive aggressive growth buying. Dividend / Safe-Stock Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and momentum concerns: after a recent run, shares have consolidated near $50 and technical indicators (RSI) showed overbought conditions, which can cap upside in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Balance-sheet/liquidity metrics remain watchpoints—current and quick ratios below 1.0 and a debt-to-equity around 1.32 mean interest-rate or capex risks could pressure margins if growth slows.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $50.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.19 and a 200-day moving average of $42.78. The stock has a market cap of $213.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 68.15%.

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.