Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,251,238. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Kyle Malady also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, October 20th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total transaction of $48,928.00.
- On Tuesday, October 13th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.93, for a total value of $47,223.00.
- On Tuesday, October 6th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.75, for a total value of $50,325.00.
- On Tuesday, September 29th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.40, for a total value of $51,040.00.
- On Tuesday, September 22nd, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $52,415.00.
- On Tuesday, September 8th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.98, for a total value of $54,978.00.
- On Tuesday, September 1st, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total value of $55,550.00.
- On Tuesday, August 25th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00.
- On Tuesday, August 18th, Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00.
Verizon Communications Stock Performance
Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.68 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.26.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.19%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday. Arete Research cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.05.
Read Our Latest Research Report on VZ
Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,790,000 after buying an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 317,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,434,000 after buying an additional 25,156 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.0% in the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 184,170 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,798,000 after buying an additional 103,046 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.1% during the first quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 2,450,129 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $122,996,000 after acquiring an additional 73,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,580 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications
Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook and earnings beat: Verizon exceeded quarterly adjusted-EPS expectations and raised its 2026 guidance, reinforcing confidence in postpaid additions, broadband growth, margins and free-cash-flow generation. Verizon raises 2026 guidance
- Positive Sentiment: Dividend appears supported by cash flow: Verizon used approximately 49% of free cash flow to fund its dividend, suggesting the roughly 6% yield is backed by internally generated cash rather than additional borrowing. This supports the stock’s appeal to income-focused investors. Verizon dividend free cash flow analysis
- Positive Sentiment: Debt-management action: Verizon launched offers to purchase up to $500 million of several note series for cash, which could help manage upcoming obligations and interest costs, although the near-term earnings effect is likely limited. Verizon note tender offers
- Neutral Sentiment: Small-business initiative: Verizon plans to direct $5 billion toward U.S. small-business suppliers over five years and is expanding its supplier accelerator program. The effort may strengthen procurement relationships and corporate reputation, but it is not expected to materially change near-term financial results. Verizon small-business supplier commitment
- Negative Sentiment: Wireless upgrade weakness: Customers are delaying or reconsidering phone upgrades, a potentially concerning signal for device sales, customer engagement and future promotional activity. Verizon declining phone upgrades
- Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution: Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Citi, Barclays, Daiwa Securities, BNP Paribas Exane and Goldman Sachs all lowered their expectations or price targets for Verizon. The revisions may limit upside despite the recent earnings improvement. Analyst outlook for Verizon
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Kyle Malady sold $47,300 of Verizon shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The relatively small transaction is not necessarily a fundamental warning, but repeated sales can weigh modestly on sentiment. Verizon CEO insider sale
About Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.
Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.
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