Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,950 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,480 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.90 and its 200-day moving average is $41.55. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

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).