UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the cell phone carrier's stock.

VZ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.93. The company had a trading volume of 46,433,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,490,430. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $42.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.87. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $37.15 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $168.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,305,727,000 after buying an additional 565,842 shares during the period. 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).