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

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price was 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. Approximately 4,172,058 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 20,071,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.70.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.8% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 36,960 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,530 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,485,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.7% in the third quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 96,496 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the third quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 54,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,699,000 after buying an additional 8,465 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $166.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.51 and a 200 day moving average of $38.45.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.74%. 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).