Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its Verizon stake by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, buying more than 7.5 million additional shares. The fund ended the period with 31.6 million shares valued at about $1.29 billion.
• Verizon continues to draw significant interest from large institutional investors, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, and Norges Bank also holding sizable positions. Overall, about 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but constructive: Verizon has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $50.59. Analysts have recently raised targets, though some have also downgraded the stock to hold.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 7,509,055 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.75% of Verizon Communications worth $1,286,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $2,357,158,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $217,125,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in 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 worth $637,812,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905,101 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut shares of 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 given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.59.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon announced pricing terms for its tender offers and consent solicitations across 20 series of notes, part of an effort to refinance or retire debt and streamline its capital structure. Markets often view these moves as supportive of future cash flow flexibility. Verizon announces pricing terms of its tender offers and consent solicitations for 20 series of Verizon and certain of its subsidiaries’ notes
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon also reported early results and extended the early participation date on its debt exchange/tender programs, suggesting solid holder participation and continued progress on liability management. Verizon announces extension of early participation date and early results of its private exchange offers and consent solicitations for 11 series of notes open to certain investors
• Positive Sentiment: Array Digital Infrastructure completed the sale of select spectrum assets to Verizon for $1.0 billion, reinforcing Verizon’s long-term network investment strategy and spectrum position. Array completes sale of select spectrum assets to Verizon for 1.0 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate article highlighted Verizon as a high-yield dividend stock with attractive valuation and growing cash flow, which supports the investment case but is not a new company-specific catalyst. Verizon’s Growing Cash Flow Continues to Support its Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Another piece said Verizon has pulled back recently but remains up over the past year, framing the stock as potentially undervalued after mixed earnings signals rather than indicating a fresh operational problem. Assessing Verizon VZ Valuation After Recent Pullback And Mixed Earnings Signals

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $47.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.16. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business's 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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