Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Sells 14,466 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 671,442 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,466 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.0% of Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $29,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,009,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205,449 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,322,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,504,150,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after buying an additional 3,743,892 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.43.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0%

VZ opened at $39.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.55.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.