Corient Private Wealth LLC Raises Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 109.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,351 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,492 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in VeriSign by 159.6% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 5,626 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $26,647,000. Sienna Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $5,139,000. Vestcor Inc grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,904,000 after buying an additional 10,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 152.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,922,000 after buying an additional 186,029 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.0%

VRSN opened at $252.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.22.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 429,439 shares in the company, valued at $106,728,474.67. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,196 shares of company stock valued at $5,559,420. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.