VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Assetmark Inc.

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. boosted its VeriSign stake by 49% in the first quarter, buying 20,173 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 61,317 shares worth about $15.2 million.
• VeriSign reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.34 topping estimates and revenue of $428.9 million also beating forecasts. Revenue rose 6.6% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly constructive on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $325.25. Meanwhile, company insiders sold shares recently, including CEO D. James Bidzos and EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto.

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 49.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,317 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,173 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. owned about 0.07% of VeriSign worth $15,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthCollab LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 19.1% during the third quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 312 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $277.66 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $278.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $258.44. The company has a market cap of $25.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at $112,513,229.51. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares in the company, valued at $9,706,010.73. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,300 shares of company stock worth $7,125,942. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $318.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.25.

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.

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