Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $98.55 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

29 Apr 2026, 21:10 by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat Gem

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,419,638 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 338,903 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $98,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 152.9% in the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 827 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. William Blair upgraded Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.41.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Verizon Communications

Key Verizon Communications News

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

Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat, record profitability and guidance raise — Verizon reported adjusted EPS of $1.28 (above consensus), record adjusted EBITDA (~$13.4B), and raised FY‑2026 EPS guidance to $4.95–4.99, supporting upside sentiment. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Subscriber turnaround — Verizon posted its first positive quarterly postpaid phone net additions since 2013 (about +55,000) and roughly 500k total mobility/broadband adds, with materially lower churn — a key catalyst for sustained margin improvement. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Capital returns & cash flow support shareholder value — Management executed ~$2.5B of buybacks in Q1, free cash flow grew and the company reiterated a strong dividend commitment (~6% yield), reinforcing the income case. Article Title
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price target moves — Morgan Stanley bumped its target to $50 (equal weight) while Wells Fargo lifted its target to $46 (equal weight), reflecting mixed analyst views about upside vs. near-term constraints. Article Title
Neutral Sentiment: Brand/marketing initiatives — Verizon is running promotions tied to FIFA World Cup tickets, which can help retention/engagement but have limited direct financial impact. Article Title
Neutral Sentiment: New tech/service entrants — FCC approval for space-based direct-to-device services (AST SpaceMobile) progresses the ecosystem; impact on Verizon is uncertain but worth monitoring for long-term competition/partnership dynamics. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: Revenue headwinds and one‑offs — Q1 revenue (~$34.44B) slightly missed estimates, partly due to one-time customer credits tied to a January outage; top-line growth remains a monitoring item. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure in mobile — Comcast is expanding mobile offerings and T‑Mobile reported its own beat/raised subscriber targets, signaling heightened competition that could pressure ARPU and share if Verizon’s retention discipline slips. Article Title Article Title
Negative Sentiment: Balance sheet & integration risk — Leverage rose after the Frontier deal (net leverage ~2.6x); management targets deleveraging to ~2.0–2.25x by 2027, but investors should watch cash generation and integration execution. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $47.22 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $197.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.79 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

Verizon Communications Profile

(Free Report)

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.