Lewis Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Lewis Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,920 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 180.7% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 113,496 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,813,000 after buying an additional 73,061 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 57.4% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 990 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 6,314 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.9% in the first quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 11,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,887,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 406 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $283.42 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $280.89 and its 200 day moving average is $252.72. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.49 and a fifty-two week high of $291.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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 was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.71, for a total transaction of $1,383,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 544,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,743,860.12. The trade was a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 40,004 shares of company stock worth $11,278,592 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st.

About VeriSign

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.