Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Makes New $1 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,951 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,003,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $685,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after purchasing an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $600,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 358.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,017 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,775,000 after purchasing an additional 54,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $321,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,236,450. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,002 shares of company stock worth $7,013,599. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $287.68 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $288.95. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $277.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.90. The company has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 0.77.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

About VeriSign

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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