Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0.9% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $41.68 and last traded at $41.74. 3,564,060 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 18,544,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.35. The firm has a market cap of $174.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).