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

Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 63,670 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,800,000. VeriSign comprises 2.1% of Compass Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Compass Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of VeriSign as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. North Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the 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 approximately $7,904,462.63. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 434,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,176,274.41. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,662 shares of company stock worth $5,799,697 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.9%

VeriSign stock opened at $216.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59 and a beta of 0.75. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.96%.

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.