Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Portland Investment Counsel Inc.

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 894,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,200 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 10.6% of Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 312.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 17,901 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after buying an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,444,825.96. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $50.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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.