Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.21.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.80 on Friday. Verizon Communications has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.01. The company has a market cap of $167.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,396,167,000 after purchasing an additional 930,367 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,151,714,000 after buying an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,882,164,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,621,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,446,194,000 after buying an additional 2,015,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,455,000 after acquiring an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).