Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their outperform rating on shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $48.00 price target on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on VZ. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.11 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $177.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).