Entropy Technologies LP Buys New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,393 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,683,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 104.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% during the first 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. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total value of $938,157.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 436,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,961,527.31. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $279.89 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The company has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

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.