Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Sells Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) recently sold shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ). In a filing disclosed on November 07th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Verizon Communications stock on October 29th.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) on 10/30/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $100,001 – $250,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 10/28/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 10/28/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 10/11/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH) on 10/8/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) on 10/8/2024.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.40 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verizon Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Senator Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. He assumed office on January 3, 2007. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Rhode Island. He declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Whitehouse previously served as the Rhode Island attorney general from 1999 to 2003. Before that, he was a United States attorney from 1994 to 1998. He was nominated to the position by President Bill Clinton (D). Whitehouse was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from Rhode Island. He cast his vote for Hillary Clinton. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Whitehouse is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

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).