Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 1.6% – What’s Next?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares traded down 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $49.17 and last traded at $49.3920. 28,017,339 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 32,194,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $208.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,286,423,000 after acquiring an additional 7,509,055 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after purchasing an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.