Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 6,300 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Hussman Strategic Advisors bought a new stake of 6,300 shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) in Q4, valued at about $1.53 million.
• Insiders sold 7,490 shares in the last quarter (including EVP Danny McPherson's 5,000-share sale for ~$1.36 million), leaving insiders with roughly 0.56% ownership while institutions hold about 92.9%.
• Analysts have raised targets (average target $317.67, consensus "Moderate Buy"); VeriSign beat recent quarterly EPS and revenue estimates with 6.6% year-over-year revenue growth and declared a $0.81 quarterly dividend (≈1.2% yield).

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,300 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,531,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in 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 last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,490 shares of company stock worth $1,981,790. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $272.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $250.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.93. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 35.80%.

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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