Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Down 0.7% on Insider Selling

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) fell 0.7% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $42.85 and last traded at $42.97. 4,868,629 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 22,557,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.27.

Specifically, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.71. The stock has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Verizon Communications by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 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).