Lifeworks Advisors LLC Invests $2.76 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Lifeworks Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 11,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthCollab LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 312 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 26,798 shares of company stock worth $7,260,432 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $270.11 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $279.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $257.49. The firm has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

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.