Praxis Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Praxis Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,835 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 16,150 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276,809 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after purchasing an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $637,812,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905,101 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $161,346,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,848,766 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $385,983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965,033 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $47.38 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.15.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

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.