KKM Financial LLC Buys 22,155 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

KKM Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,155 shares during the quarter. KKM Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $2,504,150,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $637,812,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905,101 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. William Blair upgraded Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.03.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $51.36 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.41 and a 200-day moving average of $42.81. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.67. The company has a market capitalization of $216.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4/earnings + guidance — Verizon beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.90–$4.95, reinforcing cash flow and dividend coverage that investors prize. This underpins the stock’s recent upward move and supports dividend-focused buying. MarketBeat VZ overview
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Oppenheimer set a new $56 price target on VZ, suggesting upside from current levels and giving investors confidence in consensus estimates and valuation support. Oppenheimer price target
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/enterprise traction — Coverage of Kodiak AI’s milestones highlights expanded partnerships with Verizon, signaling enterprise & network monetization opportunities beyond core wireless services. That diversification can boost long-term revenue potential. Kodiak AI partnership mention
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscriber momentum — Analysts note solid postpaid phone adds and fixed wireless subscriber growth, which improve churn and lifetime value but have yet to fully translate into stronger service revenue growth. This is constructive for ARPU stability and churn metrics. Zacks subscriber growth article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue ceiling risk — Despite subscriber gains, analysts and company commentary expect wireless service revenues to remain roughly flat near-term, which could cap share-price upside until service revenue or margin expansion resumes. Zacks revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/resilience narrative — Coverage highlighting Verizon as a high-yield, U.S.-focused defensive stock has driven demand from income-focused investors amid geopolitical volatility; this supports a higher valuation multiple relative to risk-off peers. MarketBeat dividend safe-haven piece

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.