Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the cell phone carrier’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Verizon Communications has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.46. The company has a market cap of $164.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 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).