JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $49.00 to $52.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.31% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on VZ. Erste Group Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $54.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.0%

VZ traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $48.01. 34,687,070 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,806,521. The company has a market cap of $200.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.79 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,286,423,000 after purchasing an additional 7,509,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,747,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: Verizon reported stronger-than-expected adjusted EPS and highlighted improving profitability and cash flow, which underpins the latest upward repricing and investor confidence. VZ Q1 Deep Dive
• Positive Sentiment: Subscriber momentum & guidance: Promotions and retention actions drove ~55k net wireless adds and Verizon raised FY26 profit guidance, signaling operational traction after prior churn issues. Verizon’s promos lead to 55K new wireless subscribers
• Positive Sentiment: Management confidence: CEO and management have publicly framed Q1 as the start of a turnaround, which helps investor sentiment and supports multiple re-rating narratives. Verizon CEO Claims Turnaround
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation focus: Analysts and media are re-evaluating Verizon’s valuation after the Q1 beat and subscriber improvement; some see room for upside given stable free cash flow and an attractive dividend yield. A Look At Verizon Valuation After Strong Q1
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst tweaks: Erste Group marginally trimmed FY2027 EPS but kept a Strong-Buy stance — a small modeling tweak that doesn’t change the bullish analyst positioning. MarketBeat VZ
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner recognition: Verizon’s partner network continued to receive third?party recognition (Cydcor award), a positive branding/partner-channel signal but unlikely to move near?term fundamentals materially. Cydcor Earns Verizon’s 2025 ACD Wireless Agent of the Year Award
• Negative Sentiment: Rising leverage risk: Commentary highlighting higher total debt after the Frontier deal remains a concern for income investors focused on dividend safety and credit metrics. The Ticking Time Bomb That Could Force Income Investors to Sell Verizon Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: Rival wins and product moves from T?Mobile and Comcast (and talent movement to smaller TaaS players) underscore ongoing competition that could constrain ARPU and net adds if Verizon eases promotions. T-Mobile Stock Rises on Earnings Beat Comcast drops 2 new phone plans
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss: Q1 revenue came in slightly below consensus even as EPS beat, so investors will watch whether top-line trends accelerate alongside margin gains. VZ Q1 Deep Dive

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.