Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target Raised to $56.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective hoisted by Oppenheimer from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

VZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $51.36 on Wednesday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $45.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.83. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.67. The firm has a market cap of $216.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 68.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $489,000. Nwam LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 41,845 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 8,340 shares during the period. Finally, Cascade Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. 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 Company Profile

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.