Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 0.1%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares traded up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $40.93 and last traded at $40.90. 4,577,207 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 20,124,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.44 and a 200 day moving average of $37.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $171.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,396,167,000 after acquiring an additional 930,367 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 339,007,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,607,681,000 after purchasing an additional 5,910,739 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 175,039,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,509,733,000 after acquiring an additional 8,171,700 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,151,714,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).