Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.
Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Tigress Financial cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays raised Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.09.
Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %
Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $37.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $42.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.71.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.27 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 15.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total value of $127,888.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,635.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total value of $127,888.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,635.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 23,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $888,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,130. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 95,391.7% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 136,655,301 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,082,211,000 after acquiring an additional 136,512,194 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 14,194.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,221,577 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $358,627,000 after acquiring an additional 9,157,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.
Verizon Communications Company Profile
Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).