Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) EVP Sells $437,900.00 in Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. 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 stock has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target 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 upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,303,000 after buying an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Burney Co. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).