TD Private Client Wealth LLC Acquires 7,994 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,244 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 7,994 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Bank of America began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued 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 an average target price of $47.25.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7%

VZ traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.09. 4,913,947 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,081,407. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 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).