Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stake Raised by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,712,393 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $85,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. United Bank grew its position in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 312.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 17,901 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,779,000 after buying an additional 6,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 5.7%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $46.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The stock has a market cap of $193.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.02%.

Verizon Communications News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon beat Q2 adjusted EPS estimates at $1.30 versus $1.27 expected, helped by record EBITDA margins and stronger cash generation. Verizon earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its full-year 2026 guidance for adjusted EPS, mobility and broadband service revenue, and free cash flow, signaling management confidence in the outlook. Reuters guidance article
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon posted better-than-expected subscriber momentum, including 184,000 postpaid phone additions and more than 550,000 total mobility and broadband net adds, showing the core business is improving. Verizon press release
• Positive Sentiment: Free cash flow rose 24.4% and Verizon expanded its full-year buyback target to as much as $4.5 billion, both supportive of shareholder returns. Verizon press release
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon also announced a more than $1 billion dark fiber deal with Google for AI data centers, suggesting potential upside from infrastructure demand and additional AI-related contracts. Reuters Google deal article
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue came in below Wall Street expectations and was slightly lower year over year, so top-line pressure is still a concern. Verizon earnings report
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity was unusually heavy, with traders buying more call options than normal, which may reflect speculative bullish positioning rather than fundamental news. GuruFocus earnings call highlights

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.