Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,247 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $178.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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).