Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 0.48% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.81. The company had a trading volume of 11,677,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,094,070. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $167.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ziegler Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the third quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 67,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $201,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,449,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 37,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 76,215 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,470,000 after buying an additional 22,126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).