Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Reduced by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,257,488 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 9,485,571 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.27% of Verizon Communications worth $450,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

VZ stock traded up $0.47 on Monday, hitting $45.40. 27,775,225 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,542,687. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business's fifty day moving average is $42.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.07. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).