VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $282.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.83, for a total transaction of $79,955.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,532,439.91. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.25, for a total transaction of $488,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 423,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,341,930.75. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,670 shares of company stock valued at $11,986,654. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $894,414,000 after buying an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 13,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,844,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. Amiral Gestion bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $2,483,000. Aviva PLC grew its position in VeriSign by 103.6% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 64,938 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,754,000 after acquiring an additional 33,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter worth $2,664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.7%

VRSN opened at $248.94 on Friday. VeriSign has a twelve month low of $205.37 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $246.63 and a 200-day moving average of $264.76. The stock has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01 and a beta of 0.77.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.66%. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.90%.

VeriSign Company 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.