New York, Feb 15, 2026, 15:41 EST — The market has closed.
- Verizon ended Friday at $49.01, slipping 0.9% following a turbulent day that kept the stock hovering close to the $49 mark.
- SEC filings late in the day revealed several senior executives unloading shares to cover taxes on vested stock awards, plus the appointment of a new interim consumer head.
- Tuesday brings investors back after the holiday break, with a trimmed week ahead and new management appearances lined up.
Verizon Communications Inc ended Friday down 0.9% at $49.01, after shares ranged from $48.63 to $49.43.
The price remains steady, with the usual trading break extended; U.S. stock markets shut down Monday for Presidents Day, picking up activity again Tuesday.
Timing’s key for Verizon. The stock’s now a reliable, yield-heavy play for plenty of investors, who often react quickly to small moves in rates or sudden changes in risk appetite and news flow. A calm weekend? That can flip into a turbulent open.
Verizon trailed its major competitors on Friday, with T-Mobile US up 2.25% and AT&T slipping 0.38%, according to market data.
Verizon’s CFO Tony Skiadas landed 86,131 shares on Feb. 11, according to a Form 4 filing, tied to performance stock units that vested. Of those, 42,378 shares were held back at $48.97 each for taxes. After everything settled, Skiadas reported holding 161,223 shares outright.
Director Hans Vestberg reported in a separate Form 4 that 303,497 shares were issued upon vesting, while 164,859 shares were withheld at $48.97. That left Vestberg with 345,069 shares held directly. The filing also noted transfers between Vestberg and his grantor retained annuity trusts, transactions described as exempt under SEC rules.
Controller Mary-Lee Stillwell reported in a new Form 4 that 7,343 shares vested, with 2,187 shares withheld at $48.97. That brings her directly held total to 36,083 shares.
Alfonso Villanueva Rodriguez appeared as executive vice president and interim group CEO of Verizon Consumer in a Form 3 filed Friday, which also listed him as CTO. The document detailed restricted stock units for 2025 and 2026 grants, set to vest in late 2026 and 2027.
Verizon earlier this month announced the exit of consumer division head Sowmyanarayan Sampath, naming chief transformation officer Villanueva as interim CEO for the Verizon Consumer Group. Chief executive Dan Schulman described the move as a “critical inflection point,” saying, “there will be changes in our structure and leadership.” Reuters
But there’s a flip side here. Verizon remains vulnerable to heavy promotional pushes by larger competitors, and it’s not immune to interest rate shifts that tend to batter high-dividend names when investors start moving out of defensive stocks.
Markets take a break Monday, but investors are eyeing Verizon’s upcoming events: CFO Tony Skiadas heads to the Barclays Communications and Content Symposium on Feb. 24. Then, Schulman is lined up to speak at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 2, the company’s investor calendar shows.
