Verizon Communications (VZ) – Research Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Updates

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

• 3/13/2025 – Verizon Communications was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 3/12/2025 – Verizon Communications was downgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating.
• 3/5/2025 – Verizon Communications was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating.
• 3/3/2025 – Verizon Communications had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from $47.50 to $48.00. They now have a “sector perform” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Verizon Communications had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Tigress Financial. They now have a $55.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/29/2025 – Verizon Communications was upgraded by analysts at DZ Bank AG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $40.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/27/2025 – Verizon Communications was upgraded by analysts at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating.
• 1/27/2025 – Verizon Communications had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from $47.00 to $47.50. They now have a “sector perform” rating on the stock.
• 1/24/2025 – Verizon Communications had its price target raised by analysts at Wolfe Research from $50.00 to $51.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/24/2025 – Verizon Communications had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $40.00 to $42.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 1/24/2025 – Verizon Communications had its price target lowered by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $46.00 to $42.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

VZ opened at $43.67 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).