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

Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 3.3 %

VZ stock opened at $42.87 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $32.97 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $180.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).