Toronto Dominion Bank Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Toronto Dominion Bank decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,220,860 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 270,458 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.05% of Verizon Communications worth $99,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,499,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,360,865. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.46.

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).