TD Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TD Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,125,429 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 12,771 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.10% of Verizon Communications worth $164,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after buying an additional 4,377 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 67,741 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after acquiring an additional 5,607 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Grantvest Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 25,018 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $182.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.73 and a 200-day moving average of $42.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.24%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

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).