Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 179.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,341 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.44, for a total value of $137,995.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,817,079.68. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,002 shares of company stock worth $2,525,659 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $285.02 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $266.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.36. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $288.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.63 and a beta of 0.77.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The business had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

VeriSign 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.