Rothschild Investment LLC Has $688,000 Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1,148.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,460 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,263 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 12.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 104.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $240,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $248.94 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.37 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research lowered shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $1,250,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 442,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,763,648.30. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 47,670 shares of company stock worth $11,986,654 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.