CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Makes New Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 95,314 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,647,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 105,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,487,000 after buying an additional 2,590 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $1,118,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in VeriSign by 174.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 576,395 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $161,143,000 after acquiring an additional 366,664 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $79,885.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,696 shares in the company, valued at $9,551,651.52. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,490 shares of company stock worth $2,338,621 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on 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 VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

VRSN opened at $238.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.47. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during 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 for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share.

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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

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.