7,130 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc.

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Trust Services increased its VeriSign stake by 137.2% in the third quarter, purchasing 7,130 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 12,327 shares valued at approximately $3.48 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 92.9%, with Berkshire Hathaway and BlackRock each establishing positions worth more than $2 billion during the second quarter.
• VeriSign reported quarterly EPS of $2.38 and revenue of $434.6 million, both slightly ahead of estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $333, compared with a share price of $294.22.

Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 137.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,327 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,130 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,044,157,000 after acquiring an additional 73,583 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $699,916,000 after acquiring an additional 38,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its position in VeriSign by 48.5% during the 1st quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 915,012 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,252,000 after acquiring an additional 298,895 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $333.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $1.12 on Wednesday, reaching $294.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,731,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 815,143. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The firm's 50 day moving average is $290.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.26. The stock has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total value of $927,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 412,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,118,446.80. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,078 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN provides critical internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registries for the .com and .net top-level domains and supports the security, stability and availability of these domains worldwide. VeriSign also operates the .name and .cc registries and provides backend registry services for additional top-level domains.

In addition to registry operations, VeriSign offers domain name system (DNS) services designed to help organizations maintain reliable online access.

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