Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 539,532 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,987 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $131,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $294.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $279.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.49.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total transaction of $146,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,872,615.95. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,128 shares of company stock worth $2,834,304 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.