Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 2% Higher

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares shot up 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $41.78 and last traded at $41.65. 4,520,064 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 20,106,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $176.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $6,136,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $658,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $5,131,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $151,000. 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).