Norris Financial Group LLC Invests $1.11 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Norris Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,154 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during 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 increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,168,080,000 after buying an additional 867,694 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Dbs Bank cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to raise their expectations for Verizon. Morgan Stanley lifted its price target to $52, while TD Cowen raised its target to $56; Verizon also received an analyst upgrade. These actions reflect confidence in the company’s earnings outlook and recent operating performance. Verizon analyst upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon’s investment case is being supported by fiber expansion and emerging AI infrastructure demand. Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings announced a $1.5 billion investment in Eaton Fiber to accelerate broadband deployment, while a separate analysis cited a potential $1 billion-plus Google dark-fiber deal and data-center retrofits as possible sources of higher-margin growth beginning in the second half of 2026. Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings fiber investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon remains viewed as inexpensive relative to telecom peers, trading at a significant forward-earnings discount while offering a dividend yield above 6%. However, investors are debating whether the discount represents value or reflects limited revenue growth. Recent earnings showed an EPS beat, but revenue declined year over year and missed expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: The primary pressure on VZ is concern that SpaceX could enter the U.S. wireless market by acquiring spectrum or participating in next year’s federal auction. A direct-to-mobile satellite service with dense urban coverage could intensify competition for Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, prompting a broad telecom selloff. SpaceX direct mobile threat

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.3%

VZ opened at $46.12 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $45.35 and its 200 day moving average is $46.44.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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.