KBC Group NV Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,657,363 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,808 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $70,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 312.0% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 17,901 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.2% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 6,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total transaction of $53,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,348,276.88. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $49.34 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $45.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. 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.