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

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,261,235 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 74,630 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.10% of Verizon Communications worth $170,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,850,000 after buying an additional 9,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.74. 15,365,211 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,156,328. The firm has a market cap of $184.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $43.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.97. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,298,440 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).