Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors initiated a VeriSign position in the second quarter, buying 11,295 shares valued at approximately $2.84 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: VeriSign has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $328.75, compared with the reported share price of $272.77.
• VeriSign beat quarterly estimates with $2.38 in earnings per share and $434.6 million in revenue, while revenue rose 6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.2% yield.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,295 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd 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. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th 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, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $328.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total transaction of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $272.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $273.06 and a 200-day moving average of $263.82.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

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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