Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 207,742 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 18.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 923,647 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 207,742 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $39,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USS Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,790,000 after acquiring an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $89,499,000 after acquiring an additional 639,380 shares during the period. Clarity Financial LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 697.0% during the fourth quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 471,127 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $19,189,000 after acquiring an additional 412,018 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,382,975 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $97,059,000 after purchasing an additional 316,854 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $2,171,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Verizon Communications to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $48.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $202.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The company's 50-day moving average is $45.41 and its 200 day moving average is $47.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 73.70%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc NYSE: VZ is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company's consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source