Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,630,804 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 70,780 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $71,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 3,973,874 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $174,652,000 after purchasing an additional 125,208 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.2% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 308,343 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,552,000 after buying an additional 54,039 shares during the period. Birch Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.8% during the third quarter. Birch Financial Group LLC now owns 14,439 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 17.9% during the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,736 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gibbs Wealth Management grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 69,303 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,046,000 after acquiring an additional 12,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.53 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.07.

About Verizon Communications

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.