Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 30,123 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,974,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 30,123 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $81,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 16,246.1% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 93,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,876,000 after acquiring an additional 93,415 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 679,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $28,020,000 after acquiring an additional 56,534 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 48,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,990,000 after acquiring an additional 3,412 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 444,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,330,000 after acquiring an additional 39,870 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 37,301 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

VZ opened at $44.33 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.46 and a 200-day moving average of $40.78. The stock has a market cap 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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).