Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,895,004 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 484,467 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $195,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $5,985,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,309,386 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $238,378,000 after buying an additional 404,137 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 22,932 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 102,258 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.74. 21,874,826 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,563,969. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).