Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15,351.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 256,811 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 255,149 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 490.0% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 73.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. Corporate insiders own 0.03% 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.