Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 24,743 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,128,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 24,743 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.10% of Verizon Communications worth $170,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $44.33 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.78. The company has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

About Verizon Communications

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).