Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 19,001 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,770 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 19,001 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $2,504,150,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after buying an additional 4,205,449 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after buying an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,274.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,917,508 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $82,971,000 after buying an additional 1,873,675 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, 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 value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. William Blair upgraded Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 target price on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $48.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $206.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $50.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.01. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during 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 last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 69.88%.

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.