Verizon Communications Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:VZ)

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 76,250 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 19% compared to the average daily volume of 63,845 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.0% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,231 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after buying an additional 11,896 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 43,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,866,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.68 on Monday, hitting $46.74. The stock had a trading volume of 18,587,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,843,694. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.61 and its 200 day moving average is $41.84. The company has a market cap of $196.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

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).