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

Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 116,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,463 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

VZ stock traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $39.86. 8,379,619 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,572,066. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $167.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.67%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).