Kyle Malady Sells 20,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, January 29th, Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.41. 45,176,702 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,944,896. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).