Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Free Report) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $944,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.
VeriSign Price Performance
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.
VeriSign Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush raised their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.
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