Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 0.8%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) shares traded up 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $40.18 and last traded at $39.94. 2,874,736 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 19,170,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.36.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.41. 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 market cap of $167.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.68%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

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 value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $11,396,167,000 after purchasing an additional 930,367 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,882,164,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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).