Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Acquires 7,982 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 89.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,898 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,982 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its holdings in 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. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America began 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).