Core Alternative Capital Sells 10,720 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Core Alternative Capital lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,400 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 10,720 shares during the quarter. Core Alternative Capital's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 research report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,301,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,131,578. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $183.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company 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).