Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.22. The company had a trading volume of 16,589,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,183,934. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after buying an additional 930,367 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,387 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,882,164,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,621,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,446,194,000 after buying an additional 2,015,139 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,455,000 after buying an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).