NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Verizon Communications (VZ) - Get Report were lower in pre-market trading on Friday as the company sought to reduce its $4.8 billion takeover offer for digital information company Yahoo (YHOO) by $1 billion, sources say, the New YorkPost reported.

This follows Yahoo's disclosure last month of a widespread data hack of about 500 million user accounts in 2014.

Additionally, reports earlier this week alleged that Yahoo searched users' incoming emails last year following orders from the Justice Department.

Verizon, a New York-based telecom company, believes Yahoo has not been forthcoming in deal talks and that its value has been diminished following the reports, sources said.

But Yahoo is pushing for the acquisition and is arguing against changing the terms, sources told the Post.

Verizon is also considering setting aside a reserve of $1 billion for potential legal issues surrounding the Yahoo hack, sources added.

Yahoo shares were sliding in pre-market trading on Friday. Skip Raschke of Real Money Pro, our subscription-only site for active traders and investment professionals, suggests playing the Verizon/Yahoo instability with a put spread on YHOO. Click here for a 14-day free Real Money Pro trial and see specifics of the trade that he favors.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated Verizon stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

TheStreet Ratings rated this stockwith a ratings score of B.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, expanding profit margins and notable return on equity. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: VZ