Brighton Jones LLC Purchases New Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 984 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 106.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird upped 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.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $281.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 113,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,338. The stock's 50-day moving average is $272.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $288.95.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,002 shares of company stock worth $4,467,769 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Company 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.