Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Raises Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 130.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,873 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in VeriSign by 2.8% during the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 295 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at $112,513,229.51. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,235. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $333.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $292.08 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $279.03 and its 200 day moving average is $268.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were 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 was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

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.