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

Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $292.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.2%

VeriSign stock opened at $227.94 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $237.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.25. The company has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.78%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total transaction of $125,285.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,609 shares in the company, valued at $7,904,462.63. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 434,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,176,274.41. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 23,662 shares of company stock valued at $5,799,697 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $312,900,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $149,686,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $154,325,000 after acquiring an additional 440,289 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.