First Trust Advisors LP Has $178.82 Million Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 719,987 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 123,006 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.79% of VeriSign worth $178,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup increased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $325.25.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total value of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares in the company, valued at $9,706,010.73. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 422,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $112,513,229.51. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942 in the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $262.59 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.96.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

About VeriSign

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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