Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 311,759 Shares of Toronto Dominion Bank (The) $TD

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management increased its TD position by 88% in the first quarter, adding 311,759 shares to hold 665,884 shares valued at approximately $62.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 52.37% of the bank.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable but mixed, with TD carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $156, compared with an opening price of $119.60.
• TD exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.74 in EPS and $11.8 billion in revenue, while revenue declined 31.1% year over year. The bank also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.12, implying a 3.7% annualized yield.

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Toronto Dominion Bank (The) (NYSE:TD - Free Report) TSE: TD by 88.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 665,884 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 311,759 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Toronto Dominion Bank were worth $62,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Toronto Dominion Bank in the fourth quarter worth $2,125,963,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Toronto Dominion Bank by 9,320.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,965,443 shares of the bank's stock valued at $396,544,000 after purchasing an additional 3,923,347 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Toronto Dominion Bank by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,899,945 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,121,660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Toronto Dominion Bank in the 4th quarter worth $299,850,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Toronto Dominion Bank by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,210,762 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,432,854,000 after buying an additional 3,129,457 shares in the last quarter. 52.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Toronto Dominion Bank from $138.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Toronto Dominion Bank from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Toronto Dominion Bank from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Zacks Research cut Toronto Dominion Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Toronto Dominion Bank from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toronto Dominion Bank has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.00.

Toronto Dominion Bank Trading Down 0.2%

TD opened at $119.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $117.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.94. Toronto Dominion Bank has a one year low of $72.21 and a one year high of $124.87. The stock has a market cap of $196.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.71.

Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD - Get Free Report) TSE: TD last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.11. Toronto Dominion Bank had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 13.20%.The firm had revenue of $11.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. Toronto Dominion Bank's quarterly revenue was down 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Toronto Dominion Bank will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Toronto Dominion Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Toronto Dominion Bank's payout ratio is 49.14%.

Toronto Dominion Bank Company Profile

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Formed through the 1955 merger of the Bank of Toronto (founded 1855) and the Dominion Bank (founded 1869), TD is one of Canada's largest banks and offers a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial and institutional clients.

TD's core businesses include Canadian and U.S. personal and commercial banking, wealth management, wholesale banking and insurance.

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