Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 0% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price traded up 0% on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $44.00 to $45.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as high as $40.13 and last traded at $39.94. 4,003,263 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 18,433,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.93.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.51.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 38,368 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 127,810 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,271,000 after acquiring an additional 10,899 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 217,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 96.9% during the second quarter. Burney Co. now owns 125,767 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,187,000 after purchasing an additional 61,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.9% during the second quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 69,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after acquiring an additional 5,131 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $167.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.87.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.81%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).