Horizon Investments LLC Trims Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Horizon Investments LLC reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 20.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,174 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,556 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,992 shares of company stock worth $1,857,748 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $274.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

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.