Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady Sells 11,085 Shares

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• 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 Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $39.41. 45,176,702 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,574,746. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $40.69 and a 200-day moving average of $41.58. The company 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 Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).