Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 1.4%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares rose 1.4% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.80 and last traded at $39.77. Approximately 3,243,652 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 19,966,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid 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 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).