The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $50.00 target price on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

VZ has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.12 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.12. Verizon Communications has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $173.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $3,346,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,479,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).