Proficio Capital Partners LLC Has $288,000 Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lowered its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 98.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,135 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 56,193 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,833 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in VeriSign by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 106,766 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,096,000 after purchasing an additional 45,830 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,376 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,805,000 after purchasing an additional 15,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total transaction of $562,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 515,772 shares in the company, valued at $145,112,452.20. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction of $143,837.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares in the company, valued at $10,843,479.90. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,004 shares of company stock worth $11,278,592 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock traded up $19.12 on Friday, reaching $305.79. 1,260,106 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 605,056. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.49 and a 12 month high of $308.00. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $282.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.78.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 41.12%. The business had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th.

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.