Insider Selling: Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) CEO Sells 1,100 Shares of Company Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total transaction of $50,721.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,666 shares in the company, valued at $4,457,269.26. This trade represents a 1.13% 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 hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Tuesday, October 27th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00.
• On Tuesday, October 20th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total value of $48,928.00.
• On Tuesday, October 13th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.93, for a total transaction of $47,223.00.
• On Tuesday, October 6th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.75, for a total value of $50,325.00.
• On Tuesday, September 29th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.40, for a total transaction of $51,040.00.
• On Tuesday, September 22nd, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $52,415.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.98, for a total transaction of $54,978.00.
• On Tuesday, September 1st, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total transaction of $55,550.00.
• On Tuesday, August 25th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00.
• On Tuesday, August 18th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $46.56. 8,177,747 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,177,455. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.00. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.68 and a twelve month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 72.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaGrep UK Ltd acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $842,000. CacheTech Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 23,236 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,981 shares during the last quarter. DiPaolo Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiPaolo Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,024 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 262.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz SE now owns 208,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,575,000 after purchasing an additional 151,146 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 210,580,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,659,308,000 after purchasing an additional 903,792 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.05.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc. is a telecommunications company that provides wireless and wireline communications services in the United States. Its offerings include mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, broadband internet, and related services for consumers, businesses, and government customers. The company operates a nationwide wireless network and provides home internet through fiber-optic service, including Fios, and fixed wireless access. For business and public-sector customers, Verizon offers connectivity, networking, security, and Internet of Things services.