Bluefin Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Bluefin Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 16,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $707,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 490.0% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% in the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. 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 report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.97.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $50.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.45. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.