Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Climb 2.6% – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was up 2.6% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $42.79 and last traded at $42.7260. Approximately 28,931,138 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 27,314,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.65.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts view the selloff as a buying or swing-trade opportunity, arguing that Verizon remains undervalued and could deliver substantial returns if its core wireless and broadband businesses continue generating cash. The stock’s recent decline also included an estimated 1.5 percentage-point ex-dividend adjustment. Verizon’s Had a Difficult 6 Months
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon added 184,000 postpaid phone connections and 348,000 broadband connections in the second quarter, suggesting improving subscriber economics. The company has also continued raising guidance, supporting the investment case for its earnings and dividend. Verizon Keeps Raising Guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon shares have begun recovering alongside broader telecom trading, but the market remains focused on how quickly SpaceX can commercialize satellite-to-mobile services. Telecom Stocks Rebound After Starlink Spectrum Move
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX’s spectrum transaction would give Starlink Mobile as much as 14 MHz of low-band spectrum, improving coverage and increasing the potential threat to traditional carriers. The announcement triggered a broad telecom selloff and raised concerns about pressure on Verizon’s subscriber growth, pricing, and network economics. Telecom Stocks Tumble After SpaceX Spectrum Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst actions, including a downgrade and a Scotiabank price-target cut, have added pressure. Investors are also questioning whether Verizon’s yield adequately compensates for elevated debt, modest revenue growth, and the emerging satellite competition. Verizon Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.80.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $177.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.75, for a total transaction of $50,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,674,094.50. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,700 shares of company stock valued at $372,922. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after buying an additional 8,289,877 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.1% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 41,173,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,743,274,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,794 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,164,982 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,915,882,000 after acquiring an additional 6,580,820 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 32,734,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,643,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,882,074 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $884,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305,471 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company headquartered in New York City and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VZ. The company was formed in 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE and has developed into one of the largest communications providers in the United States.

Verizon’s consumer business provides wireless voice and data services, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, broadband, and related communications products.