Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s 7th Largest Position

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3,601.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 8,695,736 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 1.3% of Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.21% of Verizon Communications worth $357,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,500 shares of company stock valued at $979,400 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $43.55. 9,205,224 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,140,383. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $183.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50-day moving average is $43.68 and its 200 day moving average is $41.95.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Verizon Communications 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).