Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Rating Reiterated by Oppenheimer

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $48.00 price target on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 21.55% from the stock’s previous close.

VZ has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of VZ opened at $39.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.45. 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 has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year 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 (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 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 for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 86,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,585 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the first quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 39,100 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.8% in the first quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 111,543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,680,000 after acquiring an additional 16,039 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 42.3% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 75,191 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,155,000 after acquiring an additional 22,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,709 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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).