Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0.3%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price fell 0.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $39.10 and last traded at $39.20. 2,257,257 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 19,647,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $167.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.6% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,165 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 18,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 272.7% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,010,536 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $84,362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471,047 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the first quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 796,473 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $837,000. 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).