2,462 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Purchased by Perigon Wealth Management LLC

Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 32.9% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 477.1% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $200,880,000 after acquiring an additional 654,170 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 161.4% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 860,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $248,388,000 after purchasing an additional 531,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $242.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $246.17 and a 200-day moving average of $266.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.66 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total transaction of $1,327,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 471,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,200,055.23. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,042,404 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% 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.