Wells Fargo & Company Increases Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target to $47.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its price objective raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.84% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on VZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $54.50 to $51.50 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:VZ opened at $46.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.39 and a 200 day moving average of $46.24. The firm has a market cap of $192.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 14,862 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,790,000 after purchasing an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $89,499,000 after purchasing an additional 639,380 shares during the period. Clarity Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 697.0% during the fourth quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 471,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,189,000 after buying an additional 412,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,382,975 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $97,059,000 after buying an additional 316,854 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.