Western Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total value of $916,905.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 401,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,525,933.65. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $293.75 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The firm has a market cap of $26.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $273.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $265.33.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

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.