Tredje AP fonden Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Tredje AP fonden lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 687,901 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 72,642 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after purchasing an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position 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 valued at $1,989,427,000 after buying an additional 557,576 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,188,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,238,866,000 after buying an additional 1,203,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,592,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $992,939,000 after buying an additional 646,537 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Dbs Bank cut Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $46.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.57.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current 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.