VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Stock: Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Holdings

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 11.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,032 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,608 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of VeriSign worth $18,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in VeriSign during the third quarter worth $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $40,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 40.5% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.0% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 295 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $314.09 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $299.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.85. The company has a market capitalization of $28.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.77 and a beta of 0.66. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $324.63.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 49.06%. The business had revenue of $443.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $440.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total value of $960,597.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 394,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,959,300.43. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 45,856 shares of company stock worth $13,565,663 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc. operates critical internet infrastructure, best known for managing the domain-name registries for .com and .net. It provides the systems that allow domain names in these extensions to be registered and resolved through the Domain Name System, working with registrars that serve businesses and individuals. The company also provides registry services for other domain extensions and supports the security and stability of the internet’s naming infrastructure. Its services are used globally through a network of registrars and other internet service providers.