Montecito Bank & Trust Has $1.51 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Montecito Bank & Trust grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,646 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,815 shares during the quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,201 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 181.6% during the fourth quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 38,367 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 24,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 59,250 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 20,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the period. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 111,817 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after buying an additional 5,480 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.92%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).