Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 2.6% - What's Next?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) shot up 2.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $46.19 and last traded at $45.90. 12,082,319 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 19,539,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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Verizon Communications Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $191.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 34.6% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,401 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $5,190,000 after buying an additional 29,663 shares during the period. Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.1% in the third quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 102,868 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,065 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,856,315 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $83,367,000 after acquiring an additional 19,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 74.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,012 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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