Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 1.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded down 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $39.61 and last traded at $39.68. 3,403,230 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 19,563,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.10. The company has a market capitalization of $167.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).