NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 12,235 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

NewEdge Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 792,908 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 12,235 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $39,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 490.0% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9%

VZ stock opened at $46.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.70. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $194.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.25.

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. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 73.70%.

About Verizon Communications

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.