Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $51.67 and last traded at $51.4250, with a volume of 4116165 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.58.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement of Fractus patent suit removes a multi-quarter legal overhang tied to antenna/IP claims, improving legal and cash‑flow risk visibility for Verizon. Fractus and Verizon settle patent litigation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see the settlement positively for risk profile and dividend resiliency; commentary highlights Verizon’s fixed wireless access strategy and reduced litigation uncertainty. How Investors May Respond To Verizon (VZ) Settling Fractus Patent Dispute And Easing Legal Overhang
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target, signaling confidence in Verizon’s outlook and likely supporting buying interest after recent gains. Verizon Receives a Vote of Confidence as Goldman Sachs Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Separate analyst upgrades pushed near‑term sentiment higher; one report notes a post‑upgrade share uptick. Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 1.3% Following Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~16% in March, indicating some short covering which can reduce downward pressure and support the stock. (Data reported 3/24/2026)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst fair‑value estimates nudged higher (to ~$50.76), a modest adjustment that suggests mixed but not dramatic changes to consensus valuation. How The Verizon (VZ) Investment Story Is Shifting On Costs Transparency And Fair Value Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage in broad “mega‑cap” pieces keeps Verizon on investors’ radar but doesn’t materially change fundamentals. 2 Mega-Cap Stocks Worth Your Attention and 1 We Turn Down
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the positives, a headline noting the stock “sank as the market gained” captures intraday selling pressure and suggests short‑term weakness/rotation out of Verizon. Verizon Communications (VZ) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here’s Why
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious about disclosure quality and reporting changes; that ambivalence can cap upgrades and keep volatility elevated. How The Verizon (VZ) Investment Story Is Shifting On Costs Transparency And Fair Value Estimates

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.32.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1%

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.05 and its 200-day moving average is $43.17. The company has a market cap of $212.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 68.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,286,423,000 after purchasing an additional 7,509,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after purchasing an additional 5,497,598 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.