Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Invests $45.73 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,040,508 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $45,730,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,568,396 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $67,864,000 after buying an additional 65,920 shares in the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 111,874 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,841,000 after acquiring an additional 18,128 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $50.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $213.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.15%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.