Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Shares Down 0.5%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded down 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $40.90 and last traded at $41.29. 9,103,868 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 18,392,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.52. The company has a market cap of $173.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,532,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Souders Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 24,273 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 4,832 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $963,000. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $537,000. 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).