Kyle Malady Sells 1,100 Shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total value of $55,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 107,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,437,133. The trade was a 1.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• 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 transaction 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 transaction of $53,548.00.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.66. 7,168,819 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,744,650. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.97.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. HORAN Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the second quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 91,222 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.3% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,481,407 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,423,000 after purchasing an additional 144,734 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $132,893,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.