Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Sells 24,986 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 110,105 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 24,986 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the fourth quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The company has a market capitalization of $191.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 69.02%.

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.