Twin Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 129,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,109 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 11,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 101,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.9% in the third quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 7,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 5.5 %

VZ stock opened at $43.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $181.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $42.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.09. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

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).