Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Earns Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their outperform rating on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $48.00 price objective on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.44. The company has a market capitalization of $166.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 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).