Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Buys 126 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 35.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $685,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 358.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,775,000 after buying an additional 54,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $600,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.17, for a total transaction of $145,375.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,104,805.90. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.87, for a total value of $1,127,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 531,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,890,573.64. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,503 shares of company stock worth $7,158,975 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $282.02 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $290.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.10. The firm has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued 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 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders 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 presently 37.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday.

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.