Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price traded down 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $49.38 and last traded at $49.50. 32,953,492 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 32,402,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. William Blair raised Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $208.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.83 and its 200-day moving average is $42.90.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 490.0% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.