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Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Verizon Communications logo with Computer and Technology background

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.37.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Verizon Communications

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $250,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $177,799,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $273,507,000 after buying an additional 3,481,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,431,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,501,332. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.59. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $36.46 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 stock has a market cap of $186.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

(Get Free Report

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).

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