Kyle Malady Sells 1,100 Shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Key Points

• CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 Verizon shares at an average price of $50.06, totaling $55,066, under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. He continues to own 108,766 shares.
• Verizon reported quarterly EPS of $1.30, exceeding estimates, while revenue declined 0.7% year over year to $34.25 billion. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.7075 per share, implying a 5.6% annualized yield.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $50.84. Verizon shares recently traded near $50.29, with institutional investors owning 62.06% of the stock.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $50.29. 10,212,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,030,869. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,481,407 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $274,423,000 after buying an additional 144,734 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $64,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $132,893,000. Financial Insights Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 7,323 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4,016.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 271,369,762 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $11,489,796,000 after acquiring an additional 264,776,704 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc NYSE: VZ is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company's consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.

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