Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 2,976 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,881 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,976 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% in 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 period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total transaction of $146,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,051 shares in the company, valued at $10,872,615.95. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% 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 10,128 shares of company stock worth $2,834,304 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $294.92 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $279.96 and a 200-day moving average of $254.52.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

VeriSign 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.