Knuff & Co LLC Purchases 2,628 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 438.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,244 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth $1,481,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 53,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,818 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 211.0% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 793 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports 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 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $249.94 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $256.19 and its 200 day moving average is $271.20. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $185.44 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $23.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at $125,200,055.23. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,651,601 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.