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

Core Alternative Capital trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,555,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,518 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,723,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,144,635. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $181.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day moving average price is $43.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.33.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).