Ieq Capital LLC Makes New $34.87 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 138,596 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,865,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 429.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in VeriSign by 788.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at $10,100,984.85. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $281.80 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The stock has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $272.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

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.