Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Holdings Cut by First Dallas Securities Inc.

First Dallas Securities Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,643 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.86 and a 200-day moving average of $42.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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).