Insider Selling: Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Sells 11,085 Shares of Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Kyle Malady also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 27th, Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ opened at $39.41 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.69 and a 200 day moving average of $41.58. The firm has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).