Banque Pictet & Cie SA Sells 3,530 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,530 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $11,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 13.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $985,063,000 after acquiring an additional 426,492 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in VeriSign by 4.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in VeriSign by 12.3% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 965,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $269,953,000 after purchasing an additional 105,532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $250.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $235.56 and its 200 day moving average is $248.07. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were 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 was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 39,696 shares in the company, valued at $9,551,651.52. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,338,621. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” 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.