Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 1.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZGet Free Report) shares were up 1.8% during trading on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $42.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as high as $40.68 and last traded at $39.87. Approximately 16,171,375 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 23,718,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.18.

VZ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.29.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Verizon Communications

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.85 and a 200 day moving average of $41.61. The company has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

About Verizon Communications

(Get Free Report)

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).

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