Conning Inc. Has $37.87 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2,140.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 834,889 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 797,619 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.3% of Conning Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 74,370 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 7,502 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,127 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,360 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $749,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.62. 10,301,320 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,121,261. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).