Peak Financial Advisors LLC Has $579,000 Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Peak Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,632 shares during the quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position 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 worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total value of $79,885.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,651.52. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,490 shares of company stock worth $2,338,621. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $251.70 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.33. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

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.