Picton Mahoney Asset Management Makes New $1.61 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,328 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,606,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.5% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 32.3% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 0.3% in the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,461 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in VeriSign by 17.0% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 406 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

VeriSign stock traded down $3.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $265.37. 1,337,262 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,189. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $281.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.87. The company has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 EPS.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 515,772 shares in the company, valued at $145,112,452.20. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total value of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares in the company, valued at $10,843,479.90. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,604 shares of company stock worth $11,165,804 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VRSN. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

VeriSign Company 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.