Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 466,189 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 28,213 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.92 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $167.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.66%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).