Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 205,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 30,313 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Certified Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the first quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 15,743 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 13,763 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Tigress Financial reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $36.73 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $42.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 15.58%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 53.63%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).