Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 130.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,873 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,320 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $2,116,154,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $312,900,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $172,641,000. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $149,686,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $292.08 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The firm has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.78, for a total transaction of $145,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,395 shares in the company, valued at $9,710,598.10. The trade was a 1.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total value of $960,597.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 394,927 shares in the company, valued at $114,959,300.43. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,235 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VRSN. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.00.

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.