120,484 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Acquired by Parsifal Capital Management LP

Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 120,484 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,308,955,000. VeriSign accounts for 3.7% of Parsifal Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupe la Francaise raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.8% during the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at $8,752,855.72. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $10,059,796. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $281.80 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.63. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.