Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 2.3% – What’s Next?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price traded down 2.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $45.73 and last traded at $46.1230. Approximately 20,570,313 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 29,242,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.22.

Key Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade provided near-term support, with Verizon shares previously rising after the rating change. Verizon Communications Shares Up Following Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms raised their price targets, including Morgan Stanley to $52, TD Cowen to $56, and Scotiabank to $52.50, signaling additional potential upside. Morgan Stanley Increases Verizon Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon’s investment case is being reinforced by its roughly 6% dividend yield, resilient cash flow, subscriber gains, and AI-related infrastructure opportunities, including fiber and data-center connectivity. Verizon AI-Driven Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: A $1.5 billion investment in Eaton Fiber is expected to accelerate nationwide fiber deployment and support Verizon’s broadband expansion. Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings Fiber Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Verizon as inexpensive relative to peers, but investors remain divided over whether the low valuation represents an opportunity or reflects weak revenue growth. Recent earnings beat EPS expectations, although revenue declined year over year and missed estimates. Verizon After Earnings: Cheap Stock or Value Trap
• Negative Sentiment: Verizon and other major wireless carriers sold off after reports that SpaceX is seeking spectrum or acquisitions to build dense, direct-to-mobile coverage in U.S. cities. Investors fear a powerful new competitor could pressure pricing, subscriber growth, and long-term industry returns. AT&T and Verizon Face SpaceX Mobile Threat

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Moffett Nathanson cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Dbs Bank cut Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $192.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.39 and its 200-day moving average is $46.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 14,862 shares during the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,790,000 after acquiring an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $89,499,000 after acquiring an additional 639,380 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Financial LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 697.0% in the 4th quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 471,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,189,000 after purchasing an additional 412,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,382,975 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $97,059,000 after purchasing an additional 316,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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.