Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 2.2% – Still a Buy?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price shot up 2.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $43.76 and last traded at $43.51. 6,774,297 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 18,219,660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.01 and a 200 day moving average of $41.93.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $113,950,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,528,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 31,319 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $457,000. 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).