Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA Takes $1.25 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,962 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $290.79 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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.