Seven Grand Managers LLC Lowers Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Seven Grand Managers LLC cut its VeriSign stake by 50% in the fourth quarter, selling 62,500 shares and leaving it with 62,500 shares valued at about $15.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on VeriSign remains positive overall, with analysts issuing several price-target increases and a current consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a target price of $317.67.
• VeriSign reported strong Q1 results, including EPS of $2.34 versus $2.30 expected and revenue of $428.9 million, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share.

Seven Grand Managers LLC cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,500 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 62,500 shares during the period. VeriSign accounts for 1.2% of Seven Grand Managers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Seven Grand Managers LLC owned 0.07% of VeriSign worth $15,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $295.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67 and a beta of 0.68. The business's 50 day moving average price is $272.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.28. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,826 shares of company stock worth $1,821,354 in the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.