Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0.9% – What’s Next?

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $40.88 and last traded at $41.77. 11,054,228 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 19,845,690 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given 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 target price of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. 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 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).