Invested Advisors Buys New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Invested Advisors bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,280 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $444,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 36,315 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,647,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $2,103,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 795,931 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $36,103,000 after acquiring an additional 36,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.47.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional and analyst support — Large fund buying and recent buy ratings/prices targets from major firms signal conviction from professional investors, which can underpin the stock. QuiverQuant notes big Q3-position increases from UBS, BlackRock and others and several recent buy ratings and $44–$51 analyst targets. Verizon Communications Stock (VZ) Opinions on Job Cuts and Earnings Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: High dividend yield and cash-flow profile — Coverage highlights Verizon’s ~7% yield and strong cash flow forecasts, making the stock attractive to income-focused investors, especially if interest rates ease. Here’s My Top High-Yield Dividend Stock to Buy in January
• Positive Sentiment: Macro tailwind possibility — A Fed governor publicly pushing for sizable rate cuts this year raises the prospect of lower rates, which tends to benefit high-dividend, low-volatility stocks like Verizon. Fed Governor Wants Huge Rate Cuts This Year: 5 High-Yield Dividend Stocks to Buy Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Growth initiatives under watch — Coverage on Verizon’s Event Perks loyalty efforts and industrial IoT push flags potential incremental revenue/enterprise opportunities; impact depends on execution and scale. Should Verizon’s Event Perks and Industrial IoT Push Require Action From Verizon Communications (VZ) Investors?
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed value proposition — Analysts and commentators note mixed recent returns but argue the stock may offer value given steady cash flow; view depends on whether investors prioritize yield vs. growth. Is Verizon (VZ) Offering Value After Mixed Returns And Strong Cash Flow Forecasts?
• Negative Sentiment: Job cuts and social-media criticism — Reports of large-scale layoffs (thousands) and online concern about service quality and dividend sustainability create short-term investor uncertainty and reputational risk; restructuring can also trigger near-term charges even if it improves margins later. Verizon Communications Stock (VZ) Opinions on Job Cuts and Earnings Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Upcoming earnings/Risk of guidance disappointments — Market attention ahead of the Jan 30 report raises the chance of volatility if Verizon’s revenue or guidance misses expectations. Zacks notes the stock recently outpaced the market intraday, but earnings execution remains the primary near-term catalyst. Why Verizon Communications (VZ) Outpaced the Stock Market Today

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.60 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.90. The firm has a market cap of $171.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

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.