Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Takes $8.45 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 30,221 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,449,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 12.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 104.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock 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 restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total value of $1,240,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 453,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,516,353.46. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 40,833 shares of company stock worth $10,041,648 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $250.60 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.27. The company has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $206.01 and a 12 month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share.

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.