Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 89.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,898 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 7,982 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.28. The stock had a trading volume of 15,638,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,227,309. The stock has a market cap of $174.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $43.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

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).