Verizon Communications Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:VZ)

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 76,250 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 19% compared to the typical volume of 63,845 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

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In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.11.

View Our Latest Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5 %

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Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.68 on Monday, reaching $46.74. 18,587,896 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,843,694. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.84. The stock has a market cap of $196.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).

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