Wells Fargo & Company Increases Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target to $43.00

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $42.00 to $43.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the cell phone carrier's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.63. 20,102,707 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,178,790. The firm has a market cap of $175.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.35. Verizon Communications has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

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. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st 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 period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).