Toronto Dominion Bank Purchases 125,966 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,346,826 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 125,966 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $93,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $4,333,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares during the period. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $1,200,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.50. 12,862,291 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,187,577. The company's fifty day moving average is $43.59 and its 200-day moving average is $42.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $183.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).