Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 0.6% Higher

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price traded up 0.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $40.04 and last traded at $40.00. 3,569,562 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 19,503,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $168.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.66%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 34,134 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 62.5% in the first quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 15,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 30,767 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973 shares during the period. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Little House Capital LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 65.2% in the first quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 57,364 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 22,642 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).