Verizon Communications’ (VZ) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Oppenheimer

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by stock analysts at Oppenheimer in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $48.00 target price on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.29% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.62 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 capitalization of $162.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).