Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Greenwood Capital Associates LLC

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,529 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 17,481 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the first quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 798,733 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,096,000 after acquiring an additional 5,047 shares in the last quarter. PCB Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. PCB Capital LLC now owns 25,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 59.7% in the 1st quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 28,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 10,584 shares during the last quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 13,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 71,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo assigned Verizon an equal weight rating with a $43 price target, which is slightly above recent trading levels and suggests limited downside from current prices. Benzinga coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays kept an equal weight view and only modestly cut its target to $45, indicating analysts still see some fair value in the stock despite the pullback. Benzinga coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Verizon’s high-yield dividend appeal and argued the stock may still look attractive to income investors after its decline. 3 High-Yield Dividends That Pay You Soon (But You Must Act Quickly)
• Neutral Sentiment: BT Group and Verizon’s new 50:50 global enterprise joint venture is being watched as a possible boost to cash flow, but investors are still waiting to see the financial impact. BT–Verizon Joint Venture article
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon continues to be viewed as a value stock after its pullback, with commentary noting broadband gains, AI initiatives, and convergence strategy could support longer-term growth. Verizon Stock Underperforms Industry in a Year: Buy, Sell or Hold?
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo and other analysts flagged Starlink as a new competitive threat, raising concerns about pressure on Verizon’s fixed wireless and postpaid growth. SpaceX’s Starlink Puts Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Under the Microscope
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles noted Verizon has underperformed peers and the broader industry over the past year, reinforcing the market’s cautious view. Zacks coverage

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Freedom Capital upgraded Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.28.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.47 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.