The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Posted by Brian Himes on Aug 30th, 2026

Verizon Communications logo The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,497,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 186,001 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.08% of Verizon Communications worth $148,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. State Street Corp raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,168,080,000 after purchasing an additional 867,694 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $2,357,158,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $208.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Verizon Communications Profile

(Free Report)

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.