Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Has $1.65 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 57.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,236 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthCollab LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 19.1% during the third quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 312 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 26,300 shares of company stock worth $7,125,942 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $268.85 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The firm has a market cap of $24.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $279.12 and its 200-day moving average is $257.83.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 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.