VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Braun Stacey Associates Inc.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 33.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,791 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.67.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 429,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,728,474.67. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 20,196 shares of company stock worth $5,559,420 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $255.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $281.51 and a 200 day moving average of $256.23. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.