Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 4,200 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,043,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in VeriSign by 159.6% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.2% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,904,000 after purchasing an additional 10,637 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,647,000. Sienna Gestion purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,139,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 152.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,922,000 after buying an additional 186,029 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $256.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $279.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.58.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total transaction of $828,102.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 426,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,935,320.66. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,746 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,479. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.