Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,401 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.7% in the first quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,847 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 48.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 175.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 13,148 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 8,370 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 121,000.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 6,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.44, for a total value of $137,995.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,817,079.68. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,525,659. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Trading Up 1.2%

VRSN traded up $3.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $277.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 708,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,573. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $265.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.24. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $288.95. The firm has a market cap of $26.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. VeriSign's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share.

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 issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

About VeriSign

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.