Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $41.80 and last traded at $42.00. 1,971,788 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 18,516,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).