Mill Capital Management LLC Takes $16.84 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Mill Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 66,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,840,000. VeriSign accounts for about 1.1% of Mill Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the first 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. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $284.24 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $273.27 and its 200-day moving average is $263.57. The company has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 409,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,474,349.06. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 33,200 shares of company stock worth $9,142,891 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush lifted their price target on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

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.