Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Investment analysts at Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $47.00 price target on the cell phone carrier’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.75% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.24.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of VZ traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.06. The company had a trading volume of 3,847,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,095,138. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.33. 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 has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $177.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Crescent Sterling Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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).