Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.2% on Insider Selling

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $40.27 and last traded at $40.32. Approximately 5,544,674 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 24,414,332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.40.

Specifically, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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 note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $169.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.79 and a 200-day moving average of $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,303 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $537,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,532,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $893,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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).