Krilogy Financial LLC Invests $2.40 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,596 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 394.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $154,325,000 after purchasing an additional 440,289 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $124,066,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in VeriSign by 496.3% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 352,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $101,797,000 after buying an additional 293,373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at $102,812,499.72. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.24, for a total transaction of $36,393.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,213,122.52. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,662 shares of company stock worth $7,542,047. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of VRSN opened at $215.68 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $244.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.93. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 0.75.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.VeriSign’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

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.