Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price dropped 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $37.83 and last traded at $38.01. Approximately 4,457,499 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 21,246,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $161.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).