Verus Capital Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Verus Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 12,144 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after acquiring an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 331,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,521,000 after purchasing an additional 17,495 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,665,000 after purchasing an additional 46,699 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 14,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,915 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon is actively managing its balance sheet by extending and updating tender offers and exchange offers for multiple series of notes, which could help optimize debt costs and improve financial flexibility over time. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors continue to view Verizon as a relatively attractive dividend stock with a lower valuation compared with the broader market, supporting the case for income-focused buyers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon’s latest earnings were mixed: EPS beat expectations, but revenue came in slightly below estimates, leaving sentiment balanced rather than clearly positive. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Operational commentary suggests Verizon is tightening in-store policies, which may be creating longer wait times and potentially frustrating customers at a time when service quality and retention matter more. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Rival T-Mobile is adding more free perks to fight churn, highlighting intense competition in wireless and raising concerns that Verizon may need to spend more to defend its subscriber base. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary also points to Verizon dipping more than the broader market, suggesting investors are cautious despite the company’s defensive profile. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $46.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current 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.