Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Sells $810,800.00 in Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

VZ stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.31. 9,377,886 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,645,916. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in shares of 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 shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price 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, Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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).