Verizon Communications - VZ Stock Forecast, Price & News

Verizon Communications Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches. It also provides residential fixed connectivity solutions, such as internet, video, and voice services; and sells network access to mobile virtual network operators. As of December 31, 2021, it had approximately 115 million wireless retail connections, 7 million wireline broadband connections, and 4 million Fios video connections. The company's Business segment provides network connectivity products, including private networking, private cloud connectivity, virtual and software defined networking, and internet access services; and internet protocol-based voice and video services, unified communications and collaboration tools, and customer contact center solutions. This segment also offers a suite of management and data security services; domestic and global voice and data solutions, such as voice calling, messaging services, conferencing, contact center solutions, and private line and data access networks; customer premises equipment; installation, maintenance, and site services; and Internet of Things products and services. As of December 31, 2021, it had approximately 27 million wireless retail postpaid connections and 477 thousand wireline broadband connections. The company was formerly known as Bell Atlantic Corporation and changed its name to Verizon Communications Inc. in June 2000. Verizon Communications Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 21st. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $60.00 to $51.00 and set a "peer perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 8th. Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $57.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.50.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.15. 15,090,888 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,356,452. The company's 50 day moving average price is $48.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.72. Verizon Communications has a 12 month low of $43.76 and a 12 month high of $56.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 26.95%. The firm had revenue of $33.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 8th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 7th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 51.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $77,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at $1,825,950. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 4,674 shares of company stock worth $237,377 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.