Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shot up 0.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $40.14 and last traded at $39.95. 3,064,601 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 24,225,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $170.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $224,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,302 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 16.2% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 41,188 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 5,741 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is 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).