North Star Asset Management Inc. Makes New $806,000 Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,205 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in 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. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $291.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $275.06 and a 200-day moving average of $266.37. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,624 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

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.