Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 1,651,459 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 16.0% during the second quarter, acquiring 1,651,459 shares and reaching a total ownership of approximately $517.6 million.
• Verizon's quarterly earnings report revealed an earnings per share of $1.22, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.19, alongside a revenue increase of 5.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, which marks an increase from the previous dividend, representing an annual yield of 7.1%.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 16.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,962,291 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 1,651,459 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.28% of Verizon Communications worth $517,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $16,700,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the first 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. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,062,750,000 after purchasing an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,904,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:VZ opened at $38.76 on Friday. 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 $42.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.34%.

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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