Kera Capital Partners Inc. Buys Shares of 1,026 VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,026 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.66, for a total transaction of $561,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 551,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,819,072.50. This trade represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.00, for a total transaction of $141,282.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,200,758. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,501 shares of company stock valued at $2,387,664. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $268.68 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.75. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.79 and a fifty-two week high of $288.95. The company has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.