Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,900,065 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 44,394 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $207,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of VZ opened at $49.34 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $205.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.70%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total transaction of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,348,276.88. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.