Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Rating Lowered by BNP Paribas Exane

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) was downgraded by equities researchers at BNP Paribas Exane from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $44.00 price objective on the cell phone carrier’s stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.40% from the stock’s previous close.

VZ has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $168.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.01.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after buying an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $9,009,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205,449 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,101,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $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).