AE Wealth Management LLC Has $6.06 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,942 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,351 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 112.5% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $274.05 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a PE ratio of 31.11 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $241.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.58.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.00.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,490 shares of company stock valued at $626,690. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.