Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 1.8% – What’s Next?

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) rose 1.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $51.10 and last traded at $50.86. Approximately 30,892,541 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 34,778,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Barclays began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, William Blair raised Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $214.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.53 and its 200-day moving average is $42.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after purchasing an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,665,000 after purchasing an additional 46,699 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,915 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,667,402 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $161,182,000 after buying an additional 99,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 378.7% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,120,000 after buying an additional 74,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.