Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Up 1.9%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price was up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $42.02 and last traded at $41.95. Approximately 3,800,431 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 18,426,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.52.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $864,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 35,602 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after buying an additional 5,723 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 512,913 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $19,337,000 after buying an additional 47,471 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently 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).