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

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

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

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

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Plan Group Financial LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 26,992 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $306,000. Mcdonald Partners LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 79,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,191,000 after buying an additional 3,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 31,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 3,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).