Knuff & Co LLC Acquires 2,628 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Knuff & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 438.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 56.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total transaction of $1,327,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,200,055.23. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 47,839 shares of company stock worth $12,651,601 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $249.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $256.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $271.20. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $185.44 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.66%. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.90%.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.