Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.2%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $40.95 and last traded at $41.05. 7,591,354 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 18,755,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $173.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.13.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).