Wealthfront Advisers LLC Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 667,727 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,463 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $33,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,286,423,000 after purchasing an additional 7,509,055 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $15,453,058,000 after buying an additional 5,497,598 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Verizon Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised several of its Verizon earnings estimates for 2026 and 2027, including FY2027 EPS to $5.40 from $5.31, suggesting improved profit expectations for the wireless carrier.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon is drawing attention as a dividend stock, with multiple articles highlighting its nearly 7% yield and positioning it as a potential income play for investors seeking steady cash flow.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon is expanding into connected-car services through a BMW and KDDI partnership, which could support longer-term growth in 5G and IoT-related revenue. BMW (XTRA:BMW) Launches U.S. Connected Car Service With Verizon And KDDI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage continue to frame Verizon as a value/income stock, with some pieces arguing the shares may be undervalued relative to earnings power and upcoming results.
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank cut Verizon’s price target to $51.50 from $54.50, signaling less upside than before despite keeping an outperform view.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over SpaceX’s Starlink remains a drag on telecom stocks, with several reports noting that competition fears have pressured Verizon and peers.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Verizon is preparing another round of layoffs and cost cuts may raise questions about growth and execution, even if the moves are aimed at improving efficiency.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.50 to $51.50 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.09.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.83 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.81 and a 200 day moving average of $46.07. 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 capitalization of $178.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 69.02%.

Verizon Communications 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.