Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.3%, selling 111,035 shares, and now owns approximately 4.7 million shares valued at $213.3 million.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22 for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $34.5 billion.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775, representing a yield of 6.39%, with a payout ratio of 63.17%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,702,275 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 111,035 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.0% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Verizon Communications worth $213,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $564,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188,757 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $7,350,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 14,663 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE VZ traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $42.88. 14,947,434 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,000,617. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $180.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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).