Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.73% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. William Blair raised shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.9%

NYSE:VZ opened at $46.34 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 336,190 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 378.7% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 74,151 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 555,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,427,000 after purchasing an additional 43,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 2,762,705 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $121,421,000 after purchasing an additional 151,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages lifted price targets and ratings (Citigroup to $50 with a Buy, Evercore to $50 Outperform, Scotiabank to $50.25, Morgan Stanley/JPMorgan to $49, RBC higher) — bolstering near-term upside expectations. Citigroup PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon reported a Q4 beat (EPS $1.09 vs $1.06 est.; revenue ~$36.4B vs ~$36.1B) and posted large wireless subscriber additions — fundamentals that support the rally. InsiderMonkey Q4/Subscriber Adds
• Positive Sentiment: Management actions: a raised quarterly dividend (new yield ~6.4%) plus headlines about cost cuts tied to the Frontier deal and a $25B buyback plan — both increase shareholder return potential. Yahoo Finance: Frontier deal & buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and analyst-insight pieces are circulating (Globe and Mail, Zacks, AAII) parsing valuation and whether the Q4 beat merits portfolio re‑positioning — useful reading but not an immediate catalyst. Globe and Mail analyst insights
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon’s stock is moving with the S&P 500 Communications Index — some of today’s move reflects sector flows rather than company-specific news. Kalkine Media
• Negative Sentiment: Senator Maria Cantwell said Verizon (and AT&T) are blocking release of key Salt Typhoon security assessment reports and called for CEOs to testify — this raises regulatory and reputational risk that investors will watch closely. Reuters: Senator on Salt Typhoon
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentaries flag margin pressure from heavy 5G and fiber investment, price lock dynamics and the potential for customer losses tied to prior price cuts — factors that could cap multiple expansion. Zacks: Margin pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Some market pieces warn Verizon may encounter technical resistance near recent highs and note CEO comments that prior price cuts hurt customer counts — caution for momentum traders. USA Today: Price cuts cost customers

About Verizon Communications

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.