Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $27.34 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 645,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 21,936 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $27,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 168,438 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,132,000 after buying an additional 4,940 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 59,102 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,502,000 after acquiring an additional 2,447 shares during the last quarter. Gould Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 93,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,956,000 after acquiring an additional 13,355 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 78,723 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. now owns 3,261 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00. Following the completion of 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.19 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The stock has a market cap of $208.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.70%.

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.