State of Michigan Retirement System Acquires 13,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,294,850 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $54,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.3% in 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.6% during 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 stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.7% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 35,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $48.63 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.41 and a 200-day moving average of $47.17. The firm has a market cap of $202.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.70%.

Verizon Communications 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.