First Trust Advisors LP Has $178.82 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 719,987 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 123,006 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $178,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in VeriSign by 191.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after acquiring an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $117,651,000 after buying an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 26,300 shares of company stock worth $7,125,942 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $262.59 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $277.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.25.

VeriSign Company 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.