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

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.41.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7%

VZ stock opened at $44.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $186.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.06. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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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