Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 270,458 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Toronto Dominion Bank decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,220,860 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 270,458 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $99,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.70 and a 200 day moving average of $41.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).