Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 1.5% - Time to Sell?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 1.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $42.92 and last traded at $42.88. Approximately 6,578,131 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 20,080,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average is $43.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $177.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 35,781 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in Verizon Communications by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 26,987 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268 shares during the period. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 574.4% in the 2nd quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 10,574 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 9,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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).