SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,364 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 11,686 shares during the quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $41.61. 15,751,473 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,143,689. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $175.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The business's 50 day moving average price is $43.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

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).