Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 1.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s share price traded down 1.9% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $44.00 to $40.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as low as $38.94 and last traded at $38.96. 4,172,058 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 20,071,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.70.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 46.2% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 22,140 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 7,001 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 304.7% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 54,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,779,000 after buying an additional 41,331 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,016,710 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $32,952,000 after buying an additional 56,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.6% in the third quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 105,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,324,000 after buying an additional 23,448 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.46. The firm has a market cap of $164.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).