Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP Purchases 298,895 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 48.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 915,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 298,895 shares during the quarter. VeriSign makes up about 8.3% of Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP owned about 1.01% of VeriSign worth $227,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $274.82 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush boosted their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at $112,513,229.51. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,706,010.73. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 21,300 shares of company stock valued at $5,770,842 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Profile

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.