Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target Cut to $40.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price target dropped by Wells Fargo & Company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.29% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.51 and a 200-day moving average of $38.45. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Verizon Communications

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).