Praxis Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 101.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,210 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $280.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $273.64 and a 200 day moving average of $240.53. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at $155,236,450. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,002 shares of company stock valued at $7,013,599. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

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.