Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 24,029 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,378,145 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 24,029 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $89,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,396,167,000 after acquiring an additional 930,367 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,151,714,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,621,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,446,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015,139 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,261,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $300,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,957 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.68. The stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.56. The company has a market capitalization 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Company 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).