Capital Investment Counsel Inc Buys 711 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 46,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 711 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,515 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 16,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 4,797 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 86,369 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after buying an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 7,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793,595 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,299,000 after acquiring an additional 54,635 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.29. The company has a market capitalization of $180.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.97 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).