276,700 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Payden & Rygel

Payden & Rygel lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,830 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 276,700 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Canopy Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Brian Low Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $263,000. Partners Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 159.5% in the third quarter. Partners Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,493 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 8,294 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 24,396 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. Finally, Blueprint Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 26.3% in the third quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 43,026 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 8,959 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Arete Research decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.05.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Better earnings and higher guidance: Verizon reported quarterly adjusted EPS of $1.31, above the $1.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 1.5% year over year. Growth in postpaid phone additions and broadband, lower promotional spending and margin expansion helped support an increase to the company’s 2026 outlook. Verizon raises 2026 guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Income appeal remains strong: Verizon’s dividend yield is above 6%, the company has raised its payout for 20 consecutive years, and dividends consumed approximately 49% of recent free cash flow. This supports the view that the payout is financially sustainable despite Verizon’s substantial debt load. Verizon dividend analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and supplier investment: Freedom Broker upgraded VZ from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target to $55. Separately, Verizon announced a $5 billion, five-year commitment to U.S. small-business suppliers, which could strengthen procurement relationships and support its network expansion ecosystem. Freedom Broker upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: SpaceX competition remains a long-term issue: Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said a fully competitive SpaceX wireless network could take years and require enormous investment. Verizon remains open to a Starlink partnership, but not one that would enable direct competition through Verizon’s infrastructure. Verizon CEO on Starlink partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Countervailing concerns: Several firms, including Barclays, Daiwa, Goldman Sachs and TD Cowen, lowered their price targets. Investors are also watching reports of declining phone upgrades, while CEO Kyle Malady’s recurring Rule 10b5-1 stock sales may weigh modestly on sentiment. Verizon phone upgrade trend

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $186.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.26. The business's 50 day moving average is $47.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.68 and a 12-month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 72.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,251,238. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $516,373. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.

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