Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Buys 64,625 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 717,222 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,625 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 0.8% of Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $32,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).