Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 0% – Time to Sell?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was down 0% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $39.54 and last traded at $39.60. Approximately 8,649,079 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 17,898,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $164.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.42 and a 200 day moving average of $41.83.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.96%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 75,252.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,810 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 12,793 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 65,679 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after buying an additional 6,449 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 26,004 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 923,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,096,000 after acquiring an additional 8,617 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 32.7% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 78,190 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,225,000 after acquiring an additional 19,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).