Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,222 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,842,000.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush raised their price target on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.75.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on VRSN
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
VeriSign Trading Up 1.8%
Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $281.80 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $272.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $264.54. The company has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. VeriSign's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.
VeriSign Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed 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 (DPR) is presently 35.14%.
VeriSign Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRSN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
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