Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 2,326 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,576 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,326 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.07% of VeriSign worth $19,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.07, for a total transaction of $484,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 432,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,598,204.93. This represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John Calys sold 1,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.71, for a total value of $242,952.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,003,189.14. This represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,839 shares of company stock worth $10,344,954. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $242.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $250.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.17. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $191.12 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.66%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.