Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target Raised to $47.00 at Barclays

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Williams Trading set a $54.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $211.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $47.95 and its 200 day moving average is $43.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. This is a boost 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 presently 68.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,168,080,000 after acquiring an additional 867,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,357,158,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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: Federal court granted Verizon a preliminary injunction blocking a T‑Mobile ad campaign that promised large savings to switch — a competitive win that protects Verizon’s customer messaging and could limit aggressive poaching by a rival. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Citi recently raised its price target to $55, signaling some analyst conviction behind upside potential and supporting the narrative that Verizon’s cost cuts and acquisition could boost margins. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Verizon as a top dividend stock and management’s actions (CEO Dan Schulman’s cost cuts and the Frontier acquisition) reinforces the income/turnaround thesis that has supported the rally earlier this year. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $47 (maintaining an “Equal Weight” rating), citing signs of a subscriber turnaround and telecom’s defensive appeal — the move is a mild vote of confidence but the PT still sits below the current market price, so its net impact is mixed. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon set its Q1 2026 earnings date for April 27. The upcoming report and webcast present a catalyst for renewed volatility as investors look for subscriber trends and progress on margin targets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is a trending stock on some retail/coverage sites (Zacks, Business Insider), which can increase attention and trading volume but doesn’t directly change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The company raised the price on a heavily discounted customer offer — a potential short-term revenue boost but a risk for churn if customers react negatively, which could weigh on subscriber-growth confidence. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent data show notable insider selling activity and some large institutional reductions in recent quarters — these flows can add selling pressure or at least create caution among investors. Article Title

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.