Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price was up 0.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $44.24 and last traded at $44.23. Approximately 2,781,961 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 20,122,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on VZ shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.04. The company has a market cap of $186.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $661,720,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300,369 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).