Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading Down 0.8% on Insider Selling

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s stock price was down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $39.72 and last traded at $39.81. Approximately 3,313,879 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 24,954,252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.13.

Specifically, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $168.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) 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 company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,248 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,213,320 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $54,490,000 after purchasing an additional 15,994 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 35,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).