Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $18.01 Million Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,343 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $18,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in VeriSign by 159.6% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,647,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 152.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,922,000 after purchasing an additional 186,029 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion bought a new position in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,139,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its stake in VeriSign by 14.2% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,904,000 after purchasing an additional 10,637 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,796 shares of company stock worth $2,754,418. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $288.09 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $282.10 and a 200-day moving average of $255.31. The company has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

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.