AIA Group Ltd Boosts Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

AIA Group Ltd raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 41.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,701 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,001 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in VeriSign by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush began coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,010.73. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,513,229.51. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock worth $7,125,942 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $277.66 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $278.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.44. The company has a market capitalization of $25.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.