Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Buys 994,036 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 25.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,901,677 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 994,036 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.0% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $220,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $354,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 62,559 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,625,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 29,130 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 173,742 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $7,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 22,568 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.25. The company had a trading volume of 17,401,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,590,928. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.20 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business's 50-day moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day moving average is $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $177.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications 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).