VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by 111 Capital

111 Capital reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 53.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,773 shares during the period. 111 Capital’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 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. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its position in VeriSign by 788.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $294.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $254.49. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s 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 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total transaction of $146,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,051 shares in the company, valued at $10,872,615.95. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,128 shares of company stock valued at $2,834,304 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.