Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stake Boosted by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 68.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,623 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,117,471,000 after purchasing an additional 8,289,877 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,164,982 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,915,882,000 after buying an additional 6,580,820 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 41,173,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,743,274,000 after buying an additional 5,075,794 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $184,260,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $132,893,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Better earnings and higher guidance: Verizon reported quarterly adjusted EPS of $1.31, above the $1.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 1.5% year over year. Growth in postpaid phone additions and broadband, lower promotional spending and margin expansion helped support an increase to the company’s 2026 outlook. Verizon raises 2026 guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Income appeal remains strong: Verizon’s dividend yield is above 6%, the company has raised its payout for 20 consecutive years, and dividends consumed approximately 49% of recent free cash flow. This supports the view that the payout is financially sustainable despite Verizon’s substantial debt load. Verizon dividend analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and supplier investment: Freedom Broker upgraded VZ from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target to $55. Separately, Verizon announced a $5 billion, five-year commitment to U.S. small-business suppliers, which could strengthen procurement relationships and support its network expansion ecosystem. Freedom Broker upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: SpaceX competition remains a long-term issue: Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said a fully competitive SpaceX wireless network could take years and require enormous investment. Verizon remains open to a Starlink partnership, but not one that would enable direct competition through Verizon’s infrastructure. Verizon CEO on Starlink partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Countervailing concerns: Several firms, including Barclays, Daiwa, Goldman Sachs and TD Cowen, lowered their price targets. Investors are also watching reports of declining phone upgrades, while CEO Kyle Malady’s recurring Rule 10b5-1 stock sales may weigh modestly on sentiment. Verizon phone upgrade trend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.05.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.68 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.19%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $47,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 98,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,251,238. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $516,373. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.