Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 1% - Should You Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $43.12 and last traded at $43.03. 7,570,753 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 19,769,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $183.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $43.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.9% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,850,000 after acquiring an additional 9,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).