Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Analysts at Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.25% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.36 on Thursday. Verizon Communications has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.67. The firm has a market cap of $165.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,504,150,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,470,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $637,812,000 after buying an additional 4,905,101 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after buying an additional 3,743,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.