Amalgamated Bank Sells 14,211 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Amalgamated Bank lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 817,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,211 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $35,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 115.8% in the 2nd quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 13,908 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 7,464 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.2% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 26,987 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Regulatory approvals complete for Frontier acquisition — Verizon expects the transaction to close Jan. 20, bringing roughly 30 million fiber passings and enabling cross‑selling of fiber and 5G services, which could materially expand growth runway and ARPU over time. GlobeNewswire: Approvals to Complete Transaction
• Neutral Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile wins Pentagon contract — headlines lifted ASTS shares and remind investors Verizon has partnerships with LEO satellite providers, which could support future wholesale or coverage initiatives, but the news is primarily a catalyst for ASTS rather than VZ. MarketBeat: Pentagon Deal Sends AST SpaceMobile Soaring
• Negative Sentiment: Widespread outage and $20 customer credits — a multi‑hour nationwide outage tied to a software issue triggered customer complaints and scrutiny; Verizon is offering a $20 redeemable credit to affected users, which raises short‑term costs and reputational risk and has prompted calls for mandatory refunds. This outage is the principal near‑term negative driving sentiment. Investopedia: Why Verizon Customers Are Getting $20 Payouts
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price‑target cut — Sanford C. Bernstein trimmed its VZ target from $46 to $44 and moved to Market Perform, signaling more cautious near‑term expectations; the change tempers upside in the short term. TickerReport / Benzinga: Analyst Price Target Cut

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $38.95 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.35 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.76. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

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.