Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Sells Off Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) recently sold shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ). In a filing disclosed on November 07th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Verizon Communications stock on October 29th.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) on 10/30/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $100,001 – $250,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 10/28/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 10/28/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 10/11/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH) on 10/8/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) on 10/8/2024.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $170.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.40 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

About Senator Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. He assumed office on January 3, 2007. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Rhode Island. He declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Whitehouse previously served as the Rhode Island attorney general from 1999 to 2003. Before that, he was a United States attorney from 1994 to 1998. He was nominated to the position by President Bill Clinton (D). Whitehouse was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from Rhode Island. He cast his vote for Hillary Clinton. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Whitehouse is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

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).