Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stake Increased by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 64.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816,864 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 319,553 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $35,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after acquiring an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 336,190 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.44 and its 200-day moving average is $42.58. The company has a market cap of $174.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).