Tigress Financial Boosts Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target to $56.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Tigress Financial from $55.00 to $56.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the cell phone carrier's stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $1.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $44.07. 29,545,042 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,159,775. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $189.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $43.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,000 shares of company stock valued at $969,340. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $33,850,000 after buying an additional 9,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 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).