Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 1.9% – What’s Next?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price was up 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $45.21 and last traded at $45.02. Approximately 5,939,658 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 18,333,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.05. The firm has a market cap of $189.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.01%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was 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 at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).