The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,497,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 186,001 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $148,075,000 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. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 312.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 17,901 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,779,000 after buying an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised 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. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.91 and a 200-day moving average of $47.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 73.70%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,444,825.96. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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.