New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Has $4.37 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 31.8%, now holding 17,229 shares valued at approximately $4.37 million.
• CEO D James Bidzos recently sold 2,000 shares for about $562,700, while the company announced a new $1.11 billion stock repurchase plan.
• VeriSign reported a 5.9% year-over-year revenue increase with an EPS of $2.21, slightly surpassing analysts' expectations.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC cut its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 31.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,229 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,015 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.50, for a total value of $135,019.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,043,726. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 515,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $145,112,452.20. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,505 shares of company stock valued at $11,130,549. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.8%

VeriSign stock traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $271.89. 613,115 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,081,412. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.36. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a 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.