Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 6,158,662 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the previous session’s volume of 18,744,084 shares.The stock last traded at $41.21 and had previously closed at $41.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on 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 boosted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.13. The company has a market capitalization of $173.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 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 earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).