Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 453,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,327 shares during the quarter. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $19,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after buying an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,168,080,000 after acquiring an additional 867,694 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,357,158,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $50.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.