Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 72,739 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,126 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake 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 worth $14,761,000 after purchasing an additional 13,787 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB boosted its holdings in 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. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 46,699 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,196,000 after buying an additional 21,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 378.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,120,000 after buying an additional 74,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $211.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.56.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Federal court granted Verizon a preliminary injunction blocking a T‑Mobile ad campaign that promised large savings to switch — a competitive win that protects Verizon’s customer messaging and could limit aggressive poaching by a rival. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Citi recently raised its price target to $55, signaling some analyst conviction behind upside potential and supporting the narrative that Verizon’s cost cuts and acquisition could boost margins. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Verizon as a top dividend stock and management’s actions (CEO Dan Schulman’s cost cuts and the Frontier acquisition) reinforces the income/turnaround thesis that has supported the rally earlier this year. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $47 (maintaining an “Equal Weight” rating), citing signs of a subscriber turnaround and telecom’s defensive appeal — the move is a mild vote of confidence but the PT still sits below the current market price, so its net impact is mixed. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon set its Q1 2026 earnings date for April 27. The upcoming report and webcast present a catalyst for renewed volatility as investors look for subscriber trends and progress on margin targets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is a trending stock on some retail/coverage sites (Zacks, Business Insider), which can increase attention and trading volume but doesn’t directly change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The company raised the price on a heavily discounted customer offer — a potential short-term revenue boost but a risk for churn if customers react negatively, which could weigh on subscriber-growth confidence. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent data show notable insider selling activity and some large institutional reductions in recent quarters — these flows can add selling pressure or at least create caution among investors. Article Title

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Verizon Communications

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.