Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,224 VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,224 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 48.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $19.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $305.79. 1,260,106 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 605,056. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $282.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $255.24. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $308.00. The stock has a market cap of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 41.12%. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 37.65%.

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.71, for a total value of $1,383,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 544,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,743,860.12. This trade represents a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 40,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,278,592 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.