Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Buys 125,208 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,973,874 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,208 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $174,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $2,504,150,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $113,004,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.07.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

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

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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

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.