Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,167,116 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 131,112 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $97,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE VZ opened at $41.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $176.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.14 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.85.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.46%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).