Tortuga Wealth Management Inc Buys New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Tortuga Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 35,724 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,513,000. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.1% of Tortuga Wealth Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after buying an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,747,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,851,715 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 867,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after purchasing an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of VZ opened at $48.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $200.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.35 and a 200 day moving average of $47.11. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s 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, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

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.