Luken Investment Analytics LLC Has $64,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 22.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BKA Wealth Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $297,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3,944.6% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,422,736 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $62,297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,835 shares during the period. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 9.2% in the first quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 25.7% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,497,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $55,676,000 after acquiring an additional 305,670 shares during the period. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.5% in the first quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 8,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. 61.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Edward Jones cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. HSBC decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.25 and a 1-year high of $42.58. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The firm had revenue of $32.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.20%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).