Meitav Investment House Ltd. Has $5.16 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 86.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,786 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,664 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,248 shares of company stock worth $6,315,027. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $7.85 on Tuesday, reaching $266.98. 171,970 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 824,792. The company has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.51 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $279.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.81.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.80%.

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.