Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $48.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the cell phone carrier's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 12.48% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.33.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of VZ traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.68. The stock had a trading volume of 12,222,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,337,519. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.44. The firm has a market cap of $179.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $16,700,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,983,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 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).

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