Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares dropped 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $37.83 and last traded at $38.01. Approximately 4,457,499 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 21,246,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.23 and its 200 day moving average is $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.12%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 168.8% during the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 20,467 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 12,852 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.4% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 2,811 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Bcwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bcwm LLC now owns 116,733 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,814,000 after buying an additional 4,573 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after buying an additional 1,916,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $214,000. 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).