VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 122.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 484,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 266,477 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $120,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. State Street Corp raised its holdings in VeriSign by 8.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,247,000 after buying an additional 246,887 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $312,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in VeriSign by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 20,196 shares of company stock valued at $5,559,420 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $252.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $282.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.22. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

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.