VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Stock: Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Reduces Position

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC cut its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 45.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,380 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,993 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $308.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.97. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $324.63.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $440.58 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 49.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 34.84%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total value of $960,597.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 394,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,959,300.43. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 45,856 shares of company stock valued at $13,556,803 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.00.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc operates critical internet infrastructure, best known for managing the domain-name registries for .com and .net. It provides the systems that allow domain names in these extensions to be registered and resolved through the Domain Name System, working with registrars that serve businesses and individuals.

The company also provides registry services for other domain extensions and supports the security and stability of the internet’s naming infrastructure. Its services are used globally through a network of registrars and other internet service providers.

Founded in 1995, VeriSign began as a provider of digital certificate services before focusing its business on domain-name registry operations.