Wall Street Zen Downgrades Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating as of a report released on Friday.
• Currently, Verizon has a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a target price of $47.53.
• In its last earnings report, Verizon surpassed expectations with $1.22 earnings per share, while its revenue increased 5.2% year-over-year.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Friday.

VZ has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $183.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.57 and a 200-day moving average of $43.35. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after buying an additional 4,615,075 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the first 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,322,700,000 after buying an additional 1,101,504 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,504,150,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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).

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