Vestcor Inc Acquires 10,637 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 14.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,637 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for 0.7% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $23,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. North Capital Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 239.0% in the third quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 51.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,659 shares of company stock valued at $5,788,560 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $243.78 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.12. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

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.