Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 652,597 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $26,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.
Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %
VZ stock opened at $44.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.64. The stock has a market cap of $187.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $44.47.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.
Verizon Communications Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.
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).
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