Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price traded down 1.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $43.16 and last traded at $43.05. 4,688,612 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 22,751,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after buying an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 99.7% during the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 58,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,647,000 after acquiring an additional 29,430 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 151.9% during the third quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,063 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 10,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 506.3% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 84,633 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,543,000 after purchasing an additional 70,675 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).