Redwood Investment Management LLC Takes $1.06 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,272 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,061,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total transaction of $927,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 412,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,118,446.80. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 28,900 shares of company stock worth $7,872,034 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $290.02 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $274.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.73. The company has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

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.