VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by GraniteShares Advisors LLC

GraniteShares Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 18.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 446 shares during the quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $281.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.36. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.49 and a 1 year high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total transaction of $1,402,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,236,450. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,002 shares of company stock valued at $4,467,769. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.