Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,266 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.47 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $187.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.04. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.92.

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).