Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $31.71 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 28.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 706,138 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 157,442 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $31,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.65 on Friday, hitting $43.15. The stock had a trading volume of 17,017,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,570,672. The firm has a market cap of $181.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.55.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.37.

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).