Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Reduced by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,378,145 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 24,029 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $89,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

VZ traded up $0.46 on Friday, reaching $39.68. 18,246,244 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.61. The company has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).