Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $32.99 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 72.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 122,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,304 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.13% of VeriSign worth $32,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,056,268,000 after purchasing an additional 68,355 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in VeriSign by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,135,632,000 after acquiring an additional 73,931 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $670,685,000 after acquiring an additional 44,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $300,249,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total transaction of $1,240,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 453,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,516,353.46. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 40,833 shares of company stock valued at $10,041,648 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $249.55 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.37 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $247.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.84.

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

VeriSign Company 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.