Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Makes New $2.19 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,699 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,188,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $699,916,000 after acquiring an additional 38,800 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,247,000 after acquiring an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $284.24 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.