Captrust Financial Advisors Purchases 366,664 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 174.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 576,395 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 366,664 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $161,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total transaction of $1,241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,275,771.80. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,338,621 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup reduced their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $242.15 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.56. The stock has a market cap of $22.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.78%.

VeriSign Company 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.