Navellier & Associates Inc. Takes $4.89 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,491 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,890,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, North Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of VRSN opened at $219.87 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $245.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.83.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released 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 net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. 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 will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 34.96%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total transaction of $1,222,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 434,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,176,274.41. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total transaction of $125,285.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,904,462.63. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,496 shares of company stock worth $8,008,193. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.