Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 150,820 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 103% compared to the typical volume of 74,253 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.85.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $180.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results 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 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.31%. 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).