MML Investors Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,609,017 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 68,791 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $65,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 31.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.1%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $47.11 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The company has a market capitalization of $196.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.55.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. 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 6.0%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

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.