2,045 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Bought by Western Wealth Management LLC

Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total transaction of $140,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 33,200 shares of company stock worth $9,142,891 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $284.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.57.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.14%.

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.