Rep. Dan Newhouse Sells Off Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Representative Dan Newhouse (R-Washington) recently sold shares of Verizon Communications Inc. NYSE: VZ. In a filing disclosed on May 16th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Verizon Communications stock on April 11th.

Representative Dan Newhouse also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of PayPal NASDAQ: PYPL on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNH on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Moody's NYSE: MCO on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Dollar General NYSE: DG on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Lowe's Companies NYSE: LOW on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Intuit NASDAQ: INTU on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of BlackRock NYSE: BLK on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO on 4/11/2025.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.38. 12,350,400 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,737,480. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $43.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.10. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $182.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

About Representative Newhouse

Dan Newhouse (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Washington's 4th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2015. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. Newhouse (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Washington's 4th Congressional District. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024. Click here to see Newhouse's key votes in Congress. Newhouse served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives representing District 15-Position 2 from 2003 through 2009 and as Washington Director of Agriculture from 2009 to 2013. Newhouse was first elected to the state House in 2002 and served until he was named state Director of Agriculture in 2009. He was first appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire on February 18, 2009.

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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