MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Acquires 123 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 24.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 636 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at $155,236,450. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,501 shares of company stock worth $2,387,664 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $270.32 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.98. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.49 and a fifty-two week high of $288.95. The firm has a market cap of $25.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

VeriSign 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.