Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Up 0.5% on Analyst Upgrade

2025-04-26T05:32:52Z

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) shares rose 0.5% on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $48.50 to $49.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as high as $42.91 and last traded at $42.93. Approximately 3,852,295 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 20,059,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.70.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.35.

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Insider Buying and Selling

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,233,295. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $792,937,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 2.1 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $176.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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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).