AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 378,948 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,691,099 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 378,948 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Verizon Communications worth $147,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,298,440 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,904,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,164,438. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).