2,967 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Bought by Advisor Resource Council

Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,967 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in VeriSign by 106.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.44, for a total transaction of $137,995.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,272 shares in the company, valued at $10,817,079.68. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,236,450. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,002 shares of company stock valued at $7,013,599. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.2%

VRSN traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $280.73. 1,026,545 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,003. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $288.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $273.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.