Prudential PLC Grows Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 523,984 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,080 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.4% in the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of VZ opened at $51.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.83.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 68.15%.

Key Headlines Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4/earnings + guidance — Verizon beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.90–$4.95, reinforcing cash flow and dividend coverage that investors prize. This underpins the stock’s recent upward move and supports dividend-focused buying. MarketBeat VZ overview
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Oppenheimer set a new $56 price target on VZ, suggesting upside from current levels and giving investors confidence in consensus estimates and valuation support. Oppenheimer price target
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/enterprise traction — Coverage of Kodiak AI’s milestones highlights expanded partnerships with Verizon, signaling enterprise & network monetization opportunities beyond core wireless services. That diversification can boost long-term revenue potential. Kodiak AI partnership mention
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscriber momentum — Analysts note solid postpaid phone adds and fixed wireless subscriber growth, which improve churn and lifetime value but have yet to fully translate into stronger service revenue growth. This is constructive for ARPU stability and churn metrics. Zacks subscriber growth article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue ceiling risk — Despite subscriber gains, analysts and company commentary expect wireless service revenues to remain roughly flat near-term, which could cap share-price upside until service revenue or margin expansion resumes. Zacks revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/resilience narrative — Coverage highlighting Verizon as a high-yield, U.S.-focused defensive stock has driven demand from income-focused investors amid geopolitical volatility; this supports a higher valuation multiple relative to risk-off peers. MarketBeat dividend safe-haven piece

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% 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.