Krilogy Financial LLC Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,596 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $154,325,000 after acquiring an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $124,066,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 496.3% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 352,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $101,797,000 after purchasing an additional 293,373 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total transaction of $125,285.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,904,462.63. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total transaction of $1,222,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 434,099 shares in the company, valued at $106,176,274.41. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,662 shares of company stock worth $7,542,047 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $215.68 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $244.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.93. The firm has a market cap of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 0.75.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.96%.

VeriSign Company 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.