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

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) were down 0.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $39.47 and last traded at $39.83. Approximately 4,404,007 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 18,447,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $167.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.85.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.81%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. 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).