Wells Fargo & Company Trims Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Target Price to $40.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 1.29% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.49 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

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