United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Sells 30,404 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,881 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 30,404 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Hamilton Capital LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 8,419 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the second quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 126,321 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,348,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 45,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the second quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 55,232 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the period. Finally, MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the second quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH now owns 105,194 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,454,000 after acquiring an additional 7,182 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $50.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.42. The firm has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.