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

Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,966 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $186.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.93.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

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).