Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) traded down 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $39.45 and last traded at $39.81. 2,957,703 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 19,945,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.5 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $166.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).