Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady Sells 8,000 Shares

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, January 29th, Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80.
• 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 Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.06. The company had a trading volume of 6,419,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,438,930. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.54. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $168.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 857,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,511,000 after purchasing an additional 55,411 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $224,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 60,403 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,713,000 after acquiring an additional 17,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).