VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Stock Position Boosted by Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 503.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 203,800 shares during the period. VeriSign makes up 2.2% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.27% of VeriSign worth $60,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,010.73. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $270.31 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $279.26 and its 200-day moving average is $257.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.80%.

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.