Meitav Investment House Ltd. Sells 2,171 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Meitav Investment House Ltd. decreased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,171 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter worth $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth $34,000. North Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total value of $123,857.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,613 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,759.23. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,833 shares of company stock worth $11,901,878 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $249.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.44. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.37 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08 and a beta of 0.77.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $419.10 million during 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

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.