TCW Group Inc. Has $3.77 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TCW Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 274.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,432 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,607 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.74. 10,419,992 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,358,114. 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 firm has a market cap of $167.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.36.

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).