Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by AIA Group Ltd

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 75.6% during the 1st quarter, now owning 135,515 shares valued at $6.15 million.
• Verizon reported a quarterly EPS of $1.22, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $34.50 billion, marking a 5.2% year-over-year increase.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 6.3% for shareholders.

AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 75.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,515 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 58,348 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 period. 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 purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 4,568,518 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 990,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

VZ traded up $0.03 on Monday, hitting $43.18. The company had a trading volume of 12,908,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,313,446. The firm has a market cap of $182.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. Verizon Communications's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio 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).