Twin Capital Management Inc. Buys 6,109 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,001 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 6,109 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 5.5 %

VZ stock opened at $43.11 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.09.

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Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.82.

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).

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