Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Barclays from $43.00 to $47.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 5.91% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.95. 5,163,235 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,832,164. The stock has a market cap of $210.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.31. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after buying an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake 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. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,168,080,000 after buying an additional 867,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $2,357,158,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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: Barclays says Verizon’s Q1 results should show progress on its subscriber turnaround plan, which would validate management’s retention and bundling strategy and support the revenue outlook. Verizon Q1 results to show progress on subscriber turnaround plan – Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting VZ as a top dividend stock and analyst upgrades/price-target bumps reflect investor enthusiasm for CEO Dan Schulman’s moves (large cost cuts, Frontier close, convergence strategy) that improve margins and bolster yield appeal. Verizon remains a top dividend stock for passive income
• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge granted Verizon a preliminary injunction blocking T‑Mobile from running ads promising large savings to switch — a win that can blunt aggressive competitor marketing and reduce churn pressure. Verizon wins injunction blocking T-Mobile ad campaign
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon confirmed it will report Q1 2026 earnings on April 27 with a webcast; investors will be focused on subscriber metrics, service revenue and FY guidance to confirm whether recent operational gains are sustainable. Verizon to report earnings April 27, 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Verizon raised the price on a heavily discounted customer offer — a tactic that could dampen new-customer acquisition and contradict the recent emphasis on using less price-led growth, risking higher churn if perceived as punitive. Verizon raises price on key discounted offer for customers

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.