Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stake Lowered by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,919 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,284 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after buying an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,062,750,000 after acquiring an additional 431,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,904,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,342 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5%

VZ opened at $40.03 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $168.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications 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).