Cabot Wealth Management Inc. Has $10.26 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cabot Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 226,112 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 9,645 shares during the period. Cabot Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $175.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.32 and a 200-day moving average of $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

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).

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