Rathbones Group PLC Has $20.37 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Rathbones Group PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,059 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,262 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th 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 increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 310,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,431,000 after buying an additional 10,804 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 312.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 17,901 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 133,236 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after buying an additional 10,884 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.6%

VZ opened at $49.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.15%.

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.