VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 49.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 61,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,173 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $15,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 159.6% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $75,922,000 after buying an additional 186,029 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in VeriSign by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 146,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,495,000 after buying an additional 22,020 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in VeriSign by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,688 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,179,000 after buying an additional 11,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,706,010.73. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,513,229.51. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $277.66 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $278.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.44. The company has a market cap of $25.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

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.