Sienna Gestion Makes New Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Sienna Gestion acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,163 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,139,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during 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 increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 122.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 23,659 shares of company stock worth $5,788,560 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $243.78 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $236.81 and a 200 day moving average of $252.12.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The business had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

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.