Foster & Motley Inc. Purchases New Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,783 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,719,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 788.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSN. Citigroup upped their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $328.75.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 409,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $121,474,349.06. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction 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 represents a 1.43% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $276.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.98.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

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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