Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VZ. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,195,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.79. The stock has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during 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. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,882,164,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,621,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,446,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).