Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 861,065 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.34% of VeriSign worth $3,199,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 32.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 394.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $154,325,000 after acquiring an additional 440,289 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 496.3% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 352,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $101,797,000 after acquiring an additional 293,373 shares during the period. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $67,225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $218.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $241.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 34.96%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.24, for a total value of $36,393.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,023 shares in the company, valued at $9,213,122.52. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,812,499.72. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,662 shares of company stock valued at $5,799,697. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

About VeriSign

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.