Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price shot up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $50.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as high as $45.60 and last traded at $45.39. 3,796,250 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 24,744,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.36.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,985,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,309,386 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $238,378,000 after buying an additional 404,137 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 22,932 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 5,247 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 102,258 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.36 and a 200-day moving average of $42.08.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.97%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).