BTC Capital Management Inc. Acquires 70,192 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 147.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,790 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 70,192 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after acquiring an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 336,190 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,665,000 after buying an additional 46,699 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after acquiring an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $49.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $206.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.60 and its 200 day moving average is $41.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $50.24.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Verizon Communications Company 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.