Castleark Management LLC Invests $802,000 in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $802,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp increased its position in VeriSign by 8.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $699,916,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,247,000 after purchasing an additional 246,887 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,624. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $292.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $273.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

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.