Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Short Interest Update

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 79,260,000 shares, a growth of 22.2% from the February 28th total of 64,880,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 24,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $5,985,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,309,386 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $238,378,000 after buying an additional 404,137 shares during the last quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 22,932 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 102,258 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.34 on Wednesday, reaching $45.05. The stock had a trading volume of 5,172,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,624,242. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.36 and a 200 day moving average of $42.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $189.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 6.02%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).