Brighton Jones LLC Boosts Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,177 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,258 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,056,268,000 after purchasing an additional 68,355 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,135,632,000 after buying an additional 73,931 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 32.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $670,685,000 after acquiring an additional 44,751 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $307,098,000 after acquiring an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $246.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $248.81 and a 200 day moving average of $268.28. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.71 and a 12 month high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.67.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,033.99. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at $125,200,055.23. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,042,404 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.