Kentucky Retirement Systems Acquires 5,343 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 100.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,343 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during 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. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 12.3% in 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 last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 104.5% in the first 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 position in VeriSign by 122.1% in the first 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $286.58 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $274.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $260.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08 and a beta of 0.71.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,872,034. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.