Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) PT Raised to $45.00 at Bank of America

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $41.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 0.33% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VZ. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $44.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,038,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,844,311. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.88. The company has a market capitalization of $188.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $45.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the second quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of 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).