Canoe Financial LP Invests $4.80 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Canoe Financial LP disclosed a new first-quarter stake in VeriSign, buying 19,325 shares worth about $4.8 million.
• Insider selling continued, with CEO D. James Bidzos and EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto both reducing holdings in recent Rule 10b5-1 transactions; insiders sold 20,196 shares worth $5.56 million over the last three months.
• Analysts remain constructive on VeriSign, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average target of $327.67.

Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,325 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 972 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 3,894 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter worth $320,000. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 11.7% during the first quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $1,043,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 20,196 shares of company stock worth $5,559,420 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $255.62 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $281.51 and a 200-day moving average of $256.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

VeriSign 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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