Capital Investment Counsel Inc Sells 7,247 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.28 on Friday, hitting $42.77. 25,452,613 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,105,430. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

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).