Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.25.

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

VZ stock opened at $43.06 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $181.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 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 Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's 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 owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,127 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 4,360 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2,921.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,466 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 25,590 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,700 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,307,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 197,916 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,915,000 after purchasing an additional 17,691 shares in 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).

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