Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 1%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price shot up 1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.35 and last traded at $40.11. 4,463,739 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 19,615,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.55 and a 200 day moving average of $38.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,283 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).