Cambridge Trust Co. Has $1.65 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 603 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Certified Advisory Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $39.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $167.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.18. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.66%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 96.38%.

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).