2,010 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Acquired by Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,010 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $297.57 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.88 and a beta of 0.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,826 shares of company stock worth $1,821,354 over the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.