Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 0.6% - What's Next?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) traded up 0.6% on Monday . The company traded as high as $38.10 and last traded at $38.03. 5,365,002 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 21,553,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,289,054,000 after buying an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 1,106,887 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,305,727,000 after acquiring an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $815,636,000 after acquiring an additional 502,949 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).

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