Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing 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 SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.03 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. 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 has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).