SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 45,584 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 59.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,584 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $30,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSN. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total value of $904,926.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 432,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,665,688.58. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,896 shares of company stock valued at $4,739,271. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $247.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $282.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $256.20.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

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.