Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Barclays

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $46.00 to $44.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.05.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.65 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $38.68 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.71. The company has a market cap of $181.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 72.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,251,238. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $516,373. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 34,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 32.7% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the first quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 18,421 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $925,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook and earnings beat: Verizon exceeded quarterly adjusted-EPS expectations and raised its 2026 guidance, reinforcing confidence in postpaid additions, broadband growth, margins and free-cash-flow generation. Verizon raises 2026 guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend appears supported by cash flow: Verizon used approximately 49% of free cash flow to fund its dividend, suggesting the roughly 6% yield is backed by internally generated cash rather than additional borrowing. This supports the stock’s appeal to income-focused investors. Verizon dividend free cash flow analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Debt-management action: Verizon launched offers to purchase up to $500 million of several note series for cash, which could help manage upcoming obligations and interest costs, although the near-term earnings effect is likely limited. Verizon note tender offers
• Neutral Sentiment: Small-business initiative: Verizon plans to direct $5 billion toward U.S. small-business suppliers over five years and is expanding its supplier accelerator program. The effort may strengthen procurement relationships and corporate reputation, but it is not expected to materially change near-term financial results. Verizon small-business supplier commitment
• Negative Sentiment: Wireless upgrade weakness: Customers are delaying or reconsidering phone upgrades, a potentially concerning signal for device sales, customer engagement and future promotional activity. Verizon declining phone upgrades
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution: Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Citi, Barclays, Daiwa Securities, BNP Paribas Exane and Goldman Sachs all lowered their expectations or price targets for Verizon. The revisions may limit upside despite the recent earnings improvement. Analyst outlook for Verizon
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Kyle Malady sold $47,300 of Verizon shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The relatively small transaction is not necessarily a fundamental warning, but repeated sales can weigh modestly on sentiment. Verizon CEO insider sale

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.