Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $49.87 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 204,902 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,290 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.22% of VeriSign worth $49,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 19.8% in the fourth 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $312,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in VeriSign by 4.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $256.43 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.69. The firm has a market cap of $23.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share 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 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total value of $63,957.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,286,884.83. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 426,139 shares in the company, valued at $106,935,320.66. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 23,746 shares of company stock worth $6,451,479 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.