Short Interest in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Decreases By 14.0%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 41,250,000 shares, a drop of 14.0% from the March 31st total of 47,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 19,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.10. 19,838,559 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,158,041. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $168.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Verizon Communications

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).