Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $41.16 and last traded at $41.17. Approximately 2,420,657 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 18,490,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.32. The company has a market cap of $173.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 102,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,149,000 after buying an additional 53,929 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 164.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,237,000 after buying an additional 58,657 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).