Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) Swallows AOL: Do Hedge Funds Like Verizon?

Among the investors tracked at Insider Monkey, Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway held the largest stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), worth close to $729.5 million, comprising 0.7% of its total 13F portfolio, by the end of the first quarter of 2015. Berkshire is followed by Adage Capital Management, led by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, holding a $230 million position. The remaining members of the smart money that are bullish on the company include Michael Messner’s Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt), Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management.

Seeing as Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has witnessed a reduction in interest from hedge fund managers, we can notice that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers who dropped their positions entirely during the first quarter. Among them is Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group, which sold out the largest stake among all the “hedgies” monitored by Insider Monkey, which contained 1.91 million shares at the end of December. Glenn Russell Dubin’s fund, Highbridge Capital Management, also closed its stake of 1.39 million shares.

The decrease in hedge fund interest as well as the uninspired stock performance lead us to think that Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) does not present an opportunity at the moment.

Disclosure: None