Convergence Investment Partners LLC Has $5.33 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 48.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,461 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,020 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises approximately 0.9% of Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st 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 period. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942 over the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.0%

VRSN stock opened at $277.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $278.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $258.66. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush started coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.25.

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.