Invesco Ltd. Has $1 Billion Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in Q1, now owning over 22 million shares, valued at approximately $1 billion.
• Verizon reported $1.22 EPS in its latest earnings, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $34.50 billion, which is a 5.2% year-over-year increase.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, yielding 6.3%, reflecting a strong commitment to shareholder returns.

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,125,587 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 1,104,683 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.52% of Verizon Communications worth $1,003,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,347,416 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,555,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,851,192 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,473,557,000 after acquiring an additional 990,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of VZ traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,052,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,669,312. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.83. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $181.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

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).