Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 14,851 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,851 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,926,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 36,706 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares during the period. Motive Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $236,000. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,344,000. Finally, Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $726,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.31 per share, above the $1.27 consensus estimate. EBITDA margins improved to 40.2%, while net income increased year over year. Verizon Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates on Strong Margins, Revenues Miss
• Positive Sentiment: Wireless customer trends were notably strong. Verizon added 406,000 postpaid phone subscribers—its best third-quarter result in five years—and 137,000 postpaid accounts. Broadband additions totaled 314,000. Verizon Delivers Another Record-Breaking Quarter
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its 2026 outlook for adjusted EPS, postpaid phone additions and free cash flow for the third consecutive quarter. Verizon now expects adjusted EPS of approximately $5.04 to $5.06 and free-cash-flow growth approaching 12%. Verizon Raises 2026 Outlook After Strong Postpaid Subscriber Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a more than $2 billion agreement with Amazon Web Services to expand distributed computing and fiber infrastructure supporting AI workloads. The deal provides a new growth avenue beyond the mature wireless business. Verizon Lifts Outlook, Inks Amazon Deal Worth More Than $2 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Management said SpaceX’s proposed nationwide wireless service would require extensive land-based infrastructure and years of investment to become competitive, suggesting a longer-term rather than immediate threat. Verizon Says SpaceX Will Need Years and Major Investment
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue rose only 1.5% to $34.31 billion, missing analysts’ $34.77 billion estimate. The miss—along with reports of lower phone upgrades—overshadowed the earnings beat and raised concerns about limited top-line growth in Verizon’s mature market. Verizon Stock Falls on Revenue Miss Amid Lower Phone Upgrades
• Negative Sentiment: Investors also remain cautious about potential disruption from SpaceX’s planned mobile network, which could increase pricing pressure and customer-acquisition costs across the wireless industry.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total transaction of $48,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,446,487.68. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,900 shares of company stock worth $469,073. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.80.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.18 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.54 and its 200 day moving average is $46.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $179.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.68 and a twelve month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.70%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.