Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Beck Mack & Oliver LLC

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,321 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,500 shares during the period. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $81,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 117,754 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,175,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. Argyle Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Argyle Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 2,445 shares during the period. Arkos Global Advisors raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arkos Global Advisors now owns 10,054 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 2,770 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.9% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,864,886 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $213,812,000 after buying an additional 90,492 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines 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

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $51.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm 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 0.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.67.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. 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. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. William Blair raised shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.03.

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.