Foster & Motley Inc. Invests $3.72 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,783 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,719,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its position 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 worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total value of $978,582.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 409,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,474,349.06. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.5%

VeriSign stock opened at $276.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.98.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

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.