Captrust Financial Advisors Acquires 6,224 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 35.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,224 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3 %

VeriSign stock opened at $281.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $252.53 and a 200-day moving average of $220.43. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.51 and a 1 year high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.