Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 626,412 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 45,835 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 13,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 32,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 65.9% during the fourth quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC now owns 63,128 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 25,068 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 28,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 29,517 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 10,253 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.96. The stock had a trading volume of 19,771,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,609,096. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $176.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

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).