Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,670,977 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 49,594 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. owned about 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $106,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.47. 21,784,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,156,907. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $187.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $43.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.02. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.92.

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).