NorthRock Partners LLC Takes $350,000 Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,693 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,129,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Troy Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $189,274,000 after buying an additional 301,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $283.14 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.79 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $256.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.11.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird upped 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 upped 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 Activity

In other news, 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 value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.