Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 17,882 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,601,331 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,882 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $80,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 490.0% during the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo assigned Verizon an equal weight rating with a $43 price target, which is slightly above recent trading levels and suggests limited downside from current prices. Benzinga coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays kept an equal weight view and only modestly cut its target to $45, indicating analysts still see some fair value in the stock despite the pullback. Benzinga coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Verizon’s high-yield dividend appeal and argued the stock may still look attractive to income investors after its decline. 3 High-Yield Dividends That Pay You Soon (But You Must Act Quickly)
• Neutral Sentiment: BT Group and Verizon’s new 50:50 global enterprise joint venture is being watched as a possible boost to cash flow, but investors are still waiting to see the financial impact. BT–Verizon Joint Venture article
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon continues to be viewed as a value stock after its pullback, with commentary noting broadband gains, AI initiatives, and convergence strategy could support longer-term growth. Verizon Stock Underperforms Industry in a Year: Buy, Sell or Hold?
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo and other analysts flagged Starlink as a new competitive threat, raising concerns about pressure on Verizon’s fixed wireless and postpaid growth. SpaceX’s Starlink Puts Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Under the Microscope
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles noted Verizon has underperformed peers and the broader industry over the past year, reinforcing the market’s cautious view. Zacks coverage

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.28.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.47 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The company has a market capitalization of $177.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.02%.

Verizon Communications 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.