Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Given New $55.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen lowered Verizon’s price target from $56 to $55 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying approximately 27% upside from the stock’s $43.32 price.
• Verizon’s quarterly EPS of $1.31 beat the $1.27 consensus estimate, but revenue of $34.31 billion fell short of expectations. The company’s stock was up 0.5% in Tuesday trading.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious overall: Verizon has a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $50.47, with eight buy ratings versus twelve hold ratings.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $56.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the cell phone carrier's stock. TD Cowen's price target indicates a potential upside of 26.95% from the stock's current price.

VZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.47.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5%

VZ stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.32. 2,984,739 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,335,012. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $38.68 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $47.54 and its 200 day moving average is $46.65. The firm has a market cap of $180.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Verizon Communications's revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total transaction of $48,928.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,966 shares in the company, valued at $4,446,487.68. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 9,900 shares of company stock valued at $469,073 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 8,666 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.2% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.6% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 17,776 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares during the period. DMC Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.8% during the third quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 20,703 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.5% in the third quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 13,346 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong customer additions and raised outlook: Verizon added 406,000 postpaid phone subscribers and 137,000 postpaid accounts in the third quarter, its strongest third-quarter phone performance in five years. Management raised its 2026 forecasts for adjusted EPS, free cash flow and postpaid phone additions. Verizon third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings and AI infrastructure deal: Adjusted earnings of $1.31 per share exceeded the $1.27 consensus estimate, while Verizon signed an agreement valued at more than $2 billion with Amazon Web Services to provide infrastructure supporting AI workloads. The company also reported improving margins, strong cash flow and broadband growth. Verizon outlook and Amazon deal
• Neutral Sentiment: SpaceX threat viewed as longer term: CEO Dan Schulman said Verizon could work with satellite providers such as Starlink to supplement wireless coverage, but does not intend to let SpaceX use Verizon’s network to compete directly for mobile customers. He suggested SpaceX could be years—and require substantial investment—away from becoming a major U.S. wireless rival. Verizon CEO on Starlink
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss overshadowed operating gains: Third-quarter revenue rose 1.5% year over year to $34.31 billion, below the $34.77 billion analyst estimate. The top-line miss outweighed the EPS beat, contributing to the stock’s decline and reinforcing concerns about Verizon’s limited growth in its mature core business. Why Verizon stock is down
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution remains: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target from $52 to $50 and maintained an “equal weight” rating, while broader sell-side coverage remains centered on “hold” recommendations. Morgan Stanley Verizon rating

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.

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