Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 981 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,319 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 981 shares during the period. VeriSign makes up about 0.9% of Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $280.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32 and a beta of 0.77. The business's fifty day moving average is $273.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for 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 business's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 553,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $155,236,450. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,002 shares of company stock valued at $7,013,599 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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