Royal Bank Of Canada Boosts Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target to $46.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $45.00 to $46.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector perform" rating on the cell phone carrier's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price indicates a potential upside of 7.79% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on VZ. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.33.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st 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. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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).

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