Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 207,119 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 19,616 shares during the quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,168,080,000 after buying an additional 867,694 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $2,357,158,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,989,427,000 after buying an additional 557,576 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $47.84 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The stock has a market cap of $199.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.