Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Takes $1.53 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total value of $124,041.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,501,044.20. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,981,790. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $272.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $250.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.93. The firm has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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 target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.67.

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.