OP Asset Management Ltd Takes $2.08 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,361 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,077,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 312 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $255.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $281.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $256.27.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,196 shares of company stock worth $5,559,420. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSN. Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.67.

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.