First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 412,733 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,641 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.45% of VeriSign worth $115,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 31,427 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,786,000 after acquiring an additional 11,481 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 37.2% in the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,963,000 after purchasing an additional 3,844 shares in the last quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter valued at about $340,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 369,402 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $103,294,000 after purchasing an additional 15,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 181.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,185 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,659 shares of company stock valued at $5,788,560. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup dropped their price target on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $243.78 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $236.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.78%.

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.