The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 186,001 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,497,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 186,001 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $148,075,000 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 the business. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 34,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,765 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.7% in the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

More Verizon Communications News

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Service convergence is strengthening growth. Verizon’s Frontier acquisition is helping accelerate service-revenue growth, while bundled mobile, broadband and fiber offerings are contributing to stronger broadband additions, higher adoption and lower churn. Analysts view the company’s valuation and substantial free-cash-flow-supported dividend as attractive for income-focused investors. Verizon Firing On All Cylinders – Focus On Service Convergence
• Positive Sentiment: New iPhone 18 Pro promotions could support subscriber additions. Verizon is offering annual upgrades, trade-in savings of up to $1,200 for eligible customers, and incentives for switchers, including some offers that do not require a trade-in. These promotions may improve upgrade activity and customer acquisition, although they could pressure near-term margins. Switch to Verizon and get the new iPhone 18 Pro
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon’s multi-year agreement for more than 80 million miles of Corning optical fiber supports planned broadband expansion and potential AI data-center connectivity through 2032. Corning Just Locked In a Massive Verizon Fiber Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.7075 per share, preserving its annualized 5.7% yield but offering no new dividend-growth catalyst. Verizon Keeps Quarterly Dividend at $0.7075
• Negative Sentiment: Verizon removed its price-lock guarantee from the myPlan offering, potentially weakening a customer-friendly perk and signaling greater pricing flexibility in a competitive market. Verizon scales back its price-lock guarantee
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Kyle Malady sold $54,978 of shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction is relatively small but may create modest caution among investors. Verizon CEO sells shares

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.98, for a total transaction of $54,978.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 106,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,326,168.68. The trade was a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,400 shares of company stock worth $219,142. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.97.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $210.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.07 and its 200 day moving average is $47.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The business had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.70%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and related technology services. Its offerings include mobile voice and data plans, 5G connectivity, fixed wireless access, fiber-optic internet through Verizon Fios, home services, and connected-device solutions.

Through Verizon Business, the company serves enterprises, government agencies, and other organizations with communications networks, managed connectivity, cybersecurity, cloud and edge-computing services, unified communications, and Internet of Things solutions.