National Pension Service Buys 609,458 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2%, acquiring an additional 609,458 shares, bringing its total ownership to over 10.4 million shares worth approximately $475.6 million.
• Verizon's stock had a strong quarterly performance, reporting earnings of $1.22 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $34.5 billion, marking a 5.2% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.3% and a payout ratio of 63.17%.

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,484,923 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 609,458 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.25% of Verizon Communications worth $475,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during 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 buying an additional 4,347,416 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,983,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 worth $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,555,351,000 after buying an additional 4,568,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 worth $1,473,557,000 after buying an additional 990,775 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. The company's 50-day moving average is $42.66 and its 200 day moving average is $42.88.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).

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