37,770 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Purchased by Robinhood Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Robinhood Asset Management initiated a position in VeriSign, purchasing 37,770 shares valued at approximately $9.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $328.75. Recent targets range as high as $324, while Zacks upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
• VeriSign exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.38 in EPS and $434.6 million in revenue, with revenue up 6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.

Robinhood Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 37,770 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,501,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 2.1% during the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 6.1% during the first quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction 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. Insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.8%

VeriSign stock opened at $281.80 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The stock has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign Company 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.

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