Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,359,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,387,919 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $544,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $29,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.51 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $190.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

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.