J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 7,897 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 82.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,642 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,897 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in VeriSign by 8.2% during 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $293,335,000 after purchasing an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 965,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $269,953,000 after purchasing an additional 105,532 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total value of $1,241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,275,771.80. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,490 shares of company stock worth $2,338,621. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $259.85 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.15.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

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.