VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Acquired by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,177 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,258 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 44,760 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,363,000 after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 13.3% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,765 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in VeriSign by 53.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 228,335 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,968,000 after buying an additional 79,926 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $571,000. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 3,048 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,200,055.23. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,033.99. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 47,839 shares of company stock worth $12,042,404 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.67.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $246.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.71 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $248.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.28.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.90%.

VeriSign 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.