TD Cowen Lowers Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target to $51.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $56.00 to $51.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 28.25% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on VZ. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.77 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.31 and a 200 day moving average of $42.84. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after buying an additional 4,205,449 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,322,700,000 after buying an additional 1,101,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,504,150,000. 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).