Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 9,485,571 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 45.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,257,488 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,485,571 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $450,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 183,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,232,000 after buying an additional 20,900 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 124,094 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 173.9% during the third quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,097 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 11,491 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.5% during the third quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,294 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $251,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts expect 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 Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

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).