Kyle Malady Sells 5,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, February 3rd, Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00.
• On Wednesday, January 29th, Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80.
• 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 transaction of $810,800.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $42.88. 9,756,956 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,083,358. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.59 and a 200 day moving average of $42.00. The stock has a market cap of $180.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,850,000 after purchasing an additional 9,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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