Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Raises Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,844 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management raised its holdings in VeriSign by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 452 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $243.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $236.81 and a 200 day moving average of $252.12. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.78%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,689.84. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,812,499.72. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,659 shares of company stock worth $5,788,560 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About VeriSign

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.