Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $41.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Cowen dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $37.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.06. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $34.55 and a twelve month high of $55.51.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $262,763.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 81,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,983,437. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 349,590,768 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,273,960,000 after buying an additional 3,857,646 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 319,233,100 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,121,282,000 after buying an additional 3,133,547 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 165,028,281 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,266,124,000 after buying an additional 1,298,454 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 85,876,978 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,358,991,000 after buying an additional 12,189,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 79,682,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,134,486,000 after buying an additional 562,742 shares in the last quarter. 60.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Verizon Communications

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Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.