Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Given New $51.00 Price Target at Wolfe Research

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its target price hoisted by Wolfe Research from $50.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Friday morning. Wolfe Research currently has an overweight rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.29.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 35,546 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares during the period. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $862,000. Patron Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 16,661 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the period. Dupree Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 126,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,057,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 5,317,633 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $211,296,000 after purchasing an additional 83,941 shares during the period. 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).