ASO GROUP Ltd Takes $1.28 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

ASO GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,281,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the third 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. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Down 3.0%

VRSN opened at $279.57 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $282.73 and a 200-day moving average of $255.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company 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 company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total transaction of $938,157.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 436,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,961,527.31. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

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.