Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 54.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,040 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned approximately 0.11% of VeriSign worth $25,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in VeriSign by 191.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after acquiring an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $256.43 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total value of $828,102.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 426,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,935,320.66. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,746 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,479 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.