Archford Capital Strategies LLC Sells 4,445 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Archford Capital Strategies LLC lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 30.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,932 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,445 shares during the quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. North Capital Inc. lifted 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. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $248.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.19 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The business’s 50 day moving average is $235.60 and its 200-day moving average is $248.05.

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). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total transaction of $1,241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,275,771.80. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,490 shares of company stock worth $2,338,621 over the last three months. 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.