Sienna Gestion Makes New $5.14 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Sienna Gestion bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 20,163 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,139,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. North Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $243.78 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The business’s 50-day moving average is $236.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.12. The company has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.78%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have 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.

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.