Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Sells 19,374 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 323,654 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 19,374 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 115.8% in the second quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 13,908 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 7,464 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 45.8% in the 2nd quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 11,503 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 22,709 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 3,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Regulatory approvals complete for Frontier acquisition — Verizon expects the transaction to close Jan. 20, bringing roughly 30 million fiber passings and enabling cross‑selling of fiber and 5G services, which could materially expand growth runway and ARPU over time. GlobeNewswire: Approvals to Complete Transaction
• Neutral Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile wins Pentagon contract — headlines lifted ASTS shares and remind investors Verizon has partnerships with LEO satellite providers, which could support future wholesale or coverage initiatives, but the news is primarily a catalyst for ASTS rather than VZ. MarketBeat: Pentagon Deal Sends AST SpaceMobile Soaring
• Negative Sentiment: Widespread outage and $20 customer credits — a multi‑hour nationwide outage tied to a software issue triggered customer complaints and scrutiny; Verizon is offering a $20 redeemable credit to affected users, which raises short‑term costs and reputational risk and has prompted calls for mandatory refunds. This outage is the principal near‑term negative driving sentiment. Investopedia: Why Verizon Customers Are Getting $20 Payouts
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price‑target cut — Sanford C. Bernstein trimmed its VZ target from $46 to $44 and moved to Market Perform, signaling more cautious near‑term expectations; the change tempers upside in the short term. TickerReport / Benzinga: Analyst Price Target Cut

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $164.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.35 and a one year high of $47.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.78.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

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.