Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 250.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 57,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 41,008 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,168,080,000 after buying an additional 867,694 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $2,357,158,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,989,427,000 after acquiring an additional 557,576 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE VZ opened at $45.84 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.36. 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 company has a market cap of $191.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

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.