Inceptionr LLC Raises Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Inceptionr LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 56.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,523 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for 0.5% of Inceptionr LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Inceptionr LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $288.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $282.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.31.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,796 shares of company stock valued at $2,754,418. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.