Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,516 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.67. 10,480,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,693,011. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).