Evolve Private Wealth LLC Makes New $1.38 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Evolve Private Wealth initiated a roughly $1.38 million position in VeriSign during the second quarter, buying 5,497 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $328.75. Wedbush and JPMorgan recently raised their price targets, while Zacks upgraded the stock to “Strong Buy.”
• VeriSign exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.38 in adjusted EPS and $434.6 million in revenue, up 6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.

Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,497 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $699,916,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $362,247,000 after purchasing an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $10,059,796. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRSN. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $281.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $272.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.63.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

VeriSign Company 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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