Vandana Venkatesh Sells 10,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $43.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted 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 during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 132.2% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 8,612 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 30,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).