Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $6.53 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,881 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,976 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,128 shares of company stock worth $2,834,304. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $294.92 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $279.96 and a 200-day moving average of $254.52. The company has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign 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.