Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Sells 27,152 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 367,345 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 27,152 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, hitting $39.49. 20,216,529 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,158,723. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 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 Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).