Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady Sells 20,000 Shares

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded down $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.31. 9,377,886 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,645,916. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.72%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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).