Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from The Goldman Sachs Group

Posted by Francis Steltz on Oct 30th, 2026

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.05.

Check Out Our Latest Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.65 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.71. The stock has a market cap of $181.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.26. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $38.68 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.19%.

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 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,251,238. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $516,373. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised 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 worth $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 14.1% in the 2nd 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 lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 20.8% in the 1st 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 boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,972,634 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,305,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

More Verizon Communications News

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

Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook and earnings beat: Verizon exceeded quarterly adjusted-EPS expectations and raised its 2026 guidance, reinforcing confidence in postpaid additions, broadband growth, margins and free-cash-flow generation. Verizon raises 2026 guidance
Positive Sentiment: Dividend appears supported by cash flow: Verizon used approximately 49% of free cash flow to fund its dividend, suggesting the roughly 6% yield is backed by internally generated cash rather than additional borrowing. This supports the stock’s appeal to income-focused investors. Verizon dividend free cash flow analysis
Positive Sentiment: Debt-management action: Verizon launched offers to purchase up to $500 million of several note series for cash, which could help manage upcoming obligations and interest costs, although the near-term earnings effect is likely limited. Verizon note tender offers
Neutral Sentiment: Small-business initiative: Verizon plans to direct $5 billion toward U.S. small-business suppliers over five years and is expanding its supplier accelerator program. The effort may strengthen procurement relationships and corporate reputation, but it is not expected to materially change near-term financial results. Verizon small-business supplier commitment
Negative Sentiment: Wireless upgrade weakness: Customers are delaying or reconsidering phone upgrades, a potentially concerning signal for device sales, customer engagement and future promotional activity. Verizon declining phone upgrades
Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution: Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Citi, Barclays, Daiwa Securities, BNP Paribas Exane and Goldman Sachs all lowered their expectations or price targets for Verizon. The revisions may limit upside despite the recent earnings improvement. Analyst outlook for Verizon
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Kyle Malady sold $47,300 of Verizon shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The relatively small transaction is not necessarily a fundamental warning, but repeated sales can weigh modestly on sentiment. Verizon CEO insider sale

Verizon Communications Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.