Western Wealth Management LLC Invests $508,000 in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 3.1%

VRSN stock opened at $298.89 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.10.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRSN. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% 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 28,900 shares of company stock worth $7,872,034. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.