Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Lessened by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,247 shares during the quarter. 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $178.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set 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 issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).