Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 6,856 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,856 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,227,510 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $49,088,000 after buying an additional 42,599 shares during the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 155,688 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $6,226,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 164,868 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $6,593,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vertex Planning Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 10,729 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $45.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,123,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,713,732. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a market capitalization of $192.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.10.

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 (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 previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.92%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).