Todd Asset Management LLC Purchases 234,142 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,005,285 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,142 shares during the quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $42,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. RKL Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,765 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 32.7% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 18,421 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 35,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total transaction of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 109,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,348,276.88. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $49.34 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $205.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

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.