VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 63.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,468 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,257 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of VRSN opened at $283.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $280.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,796 shares of company stock worth $2,754,418. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.