Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 12,461 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,161 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,461 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 378.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 74,151 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 555,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,427,000 after purchasing an additional 43,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 2,762,705 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $121,421,000 after buying an additional 151,100 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.47.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call buying — Investors purchased ~276,566 call options on VZ Friday (≈+278% vs. typical volume), signaling short-term bullish bets or hedging ahead of catalysts. This elevated options flow can increase near-term upside trading interest.
• Positive Sentiment: Outpacing the wireless industry — Zacks highlights VZ outperforming peers over the past year thanks to 5G upgrades, network slicing and new partnerships, suggesting operational momentum that could support longer‑term revenue growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Near-term market beat — Zacks also notes VZ outpaced the broader market on Jan. 8, reflecting supportive sentiment from investors reacting to recent operational/news items. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Product/IoT initiatives highlighted — Coverage on Verizon’s event perks and Industrial IoT push points to potential revenue diversification beyond consumer wireless, a positive catalyst if adoption accelerates. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: High‑yield appeal — The Motley Fool recommends VZ as a top high‑yield dividend stock (yield ~7%), which can attract income-focused investors, especially if rate cuts materialize. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro rate narrative — Commentary that the Fed should cut rates this year could be supportive for high‑yield telecoms like VZ if realized, but this is speculative and timing/scale of cuts remain uncertain. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Job‑cut chatter and dividend concerns — Social media summaries report large workforce reductions and debate over dividend sustainability ahead of earnings, raising short‑term sentiment risk and questions about execution and cost structure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: New 12‑month low flagged — Coverage noting VZ reached a new 12‑month low raises caution for momentum investors and underscores current downside pressure for the stock. Article Title

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.46 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.88. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business 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%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. 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 payout ratio 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.