Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0.8%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares dropped 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $39.57 and last traded at $39.77. Approximately 14,016,776 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 16,262,630 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.54 and its 200 day moving average is $38.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $168.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $567,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).