Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Acquires 315,546 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,553,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 315,546 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $150,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $2,357,158,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in 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 worth $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,286,423,000 after acquiring an additional 7,509,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,851,715 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $49.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $205.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.30.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,348,276.88. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.

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.