Everest Financial Group LLC Makes New $1.05 Million Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Everest Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 14,862 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,790,000 after purchasing an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $89,499,000 after buying an additional 639,380 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Financial LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 697.0% during the 4th quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 471,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,189,000 after buying an additional 412,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,382,975 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $97,059,000 after buying an additional 316,854 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon beat Q2 adjusted EPS estimates at $1.30 versus $1.27 expected, helped by record EBITDA margins and stronger cash generation. Verizon earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its full-year 2026 guidance for adjusted EPS, mobility and broadband service revenue, and free cash flow, signaling management confidence in the outlook. Reuters guidance article
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon posted better-than-expected subscriber momentum, including 184,000 postpaid phone additions and more than 550,000 total mobility and broadband net adds, showing the core business is improving. Verizon press release
• Positive Sentiment: Free cash flow rose 24.4% and Verizon expanded its full-year buyback target to as much as $4.5 billion, both supportive of shareholder returns. Verizon press release
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon also announced a more than $1 billion dark fiber deal with Google for AI data centers, suggesting potential upside from infrastructure demand and additional AI-related contracts. Reuters Google deal article
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue came in below Wall Street expectations and was slightly lower year over year, so top-line pressure is still a concern. Verizon earnings report
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity was unusually heavy, with traders buying more call options than normal, which may reflect speculative bullish positioning rather than fundamental news. GuruFocus earnings call highlights

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $46.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.39 and a 200 day moving average of $46.20. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 69.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.50 to $51.50 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.03.

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.