The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,499,376 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 42,364 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.11% of Verizon Communications worth $185,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $24,400,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.89. 15,659,277 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,890,029. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $188.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50-day moving average is $41.76 and its 200-day moving average is $40.95. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.04%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).