Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.5%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares traded down 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $40.90 and last traded at $41.29. 9,103,868 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 18,392,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.93 and a 200 day moving average of $40.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,739,171,000 after buying an additional 1,216,963 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $1,882,164,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares during the period. 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).