Insider Selling: Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Sells 9,000 Shares of Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, April 30th, Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 23rd, Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.29 on Thursday, hitting $43.60. The company had a trading volume of 14,950,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,118,413. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company's fifty day moving average price is $43.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.97. The company has a market capitalization of $183.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

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).

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