VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,380 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,993 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,044,157,000 after acquiring an additional 73,583 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $699,916,000 after acquiring an additional 38,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 48.5% in the 1st quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 915,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $227,252,000 after acquiring an additional 298,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of VeriSign from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $308.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $298.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.97. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $324.63. The stock has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19 and a beta of 0.66.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 49.06%. The business had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny Mcpherson sold 3,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.89, for a total transaction of $989,465.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,283,231.72. The trade was a 9.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.38, for a total transaction of $154,690.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,712,985.10. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 45,856 shares of company stock worth $13,556,803 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc operates critical internet infrastructure, best known for managing the domain-name registries for .com and .net. It provides the systems that allow domain names in these extensions to be registered and resolved through the Domain Name System, working with registrars that serve businesses and individuals.

The company also provides registry services for other domain extensions and supports the security and stability of the internet’s naming infrastructure. Its services are used globally through a network of registrars and other internet service providers.

Founded in 1995, VeriSign began as a provider of digital certificate services before focusing its business on domain-name registry operations.