Mackenzie Financial Corp Sells 164,959 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 43.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 215,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 164,959 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $60,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. North Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% during the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $235.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.47. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VRSN. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $79,885.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,551,651.52. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,490 shares of company stock worth $4,036,071. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign 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.