Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor 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.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $106,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,850,000 after buying an additional 9,846 shares during the period. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.68 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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) last released 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).