Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 26.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,143 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 15,830 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of VeriSign worth $19,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 150.0% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 329,027 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $83,530,000 after buying an additional 197,402 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth $47,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 8,332.0% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 21,333 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,416,000 after buying an additional 21,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.3%

VRSN opened at $283.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $288.95. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $276.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.69.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.87, for a total value of $1,127,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 531,772 shares in the company, valued at $149,890,573.64. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,002 shares of company stock worth $7,013,599 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Profile

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.

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