Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $42.72 and last traded at $42.63. 3,547,971 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 22,441,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 154,102 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $301,000. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $4,415,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 44,982 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,501 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).