Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Sells 2,783 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,783 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in VeriSign by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after buying an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $985,063,000 after acquiring an additional 426,492 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $312,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in VeriSign by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $288.09 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $282.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.31. The company has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,796 shares of company stock valued at $2,754,418. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About VeriSign

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.