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

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) fell 1.9% during trading 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 trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 20,071,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.70.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $164.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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).