Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,186,605 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 312,771 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $188,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $354,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $860,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $545,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 74,823 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bluefin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 47.2% in the 1st quarter. Bluefin Capital Management LLC now owns 16,048 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 5,148 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.11%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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).