Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.5%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares fell 0.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $43.97 and last traded at $44.12. 2,321,224 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 18,842,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.91.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 29,368 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after buying an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 177.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 172,358 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,418,000 after acquiring an additional 110,337 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).