Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 186,029 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 152.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 186,029 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.33% of VeriSign worth $75,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $300,249,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $154,325,000 after acquiring an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $79,885.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,551,651.52. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,490 shares of company stock worth $2,338,621 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $240.78 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.84. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.78%.

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.