Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.0294.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 466,396 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,996,000 after purchasing an additional 89,826 shares during the period. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,056,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $88,000. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $293,000. Finally, Advisortrust Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $661,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4/earnings + guidance — Verizon beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.90–$4.95, reinforcing cash flow and dividend coverage that investors prize. This underpins the stock’s recent upward move and supports dividend-focused buying. MarketBeat VZ overview
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Oppenheimer set a new $56 price target on VZ, suggesting upside from current levels and giving investors confidence in consensus estimates and valuation support. Oppenheimer price target
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/enterprise traction — Coverage of Kodiak AI’s milestones highlights expanded partnerships with Verizon, signaling enterprise & network monetization opportunities beyond core wireless services. That diversification can boost long-term revenue potential. Kodiak AI partnership mention
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscriber momentum — Analysts note solid postpaid phone adds and fixed wireless subscriber growth, which improve churn and lifetime value but have yet to fully translate into stronger service revenue growth. This is constructive for ARPU stability and churn metrics. Zacks subscriber growth article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue ceiling risk — Despite subscriber gains, analysts and company commentary expect wireless service revenues to remain roughly flat near-term, which could cap share-price upside until service revenue or margin expansion resumes. Zacks revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/resilience narrative — Coverage highlighting Verizon as a high-yield, U.S.-focused defensive stock has driven demand from income-focused investors amid geopolitical volatility; this supports a higher valuation multiple relative to risk-off peers. MarketBeat dividend safe-haven piece

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4%

VZ opened at $51.36 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $216.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.30. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 68.15%.

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.