Smithfield Trust Co Has $82,000 Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Smithfield Trust Co raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 34.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 318 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $82,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 32.3% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 48.8% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $268.29 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $310.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $281.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total transaction of $1,424,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 526,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,035,201.04. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,004 shares of company stock worth $10,995,530. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

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.