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

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded down 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 mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 20,071,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.70.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised 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 report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $166.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.45.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).