Tredje AP fonden Sells 8,426 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Tredje AP fonden trimmed its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 52.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,426 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,249,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after buying an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $154,325,000 after buying an additional 440,289 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 496.3% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 352,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $101,797,000 after acquiring an additional 293,373 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of VRSN opened at $215.91 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $240.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.02.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.24, for a total value of $36,393.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,023 shares in the company, valued at $9,213,122.52. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,662 shares of company stock worth $5,799,697. Company insiders own 0.84% 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.