Brokerages Set Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Price Target at $44.00

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.86.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ossiam grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 658.6% in the second quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,361,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $50,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,766 shares in the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $306,000. 61.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

VZ stock opened at $40.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.21. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

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).