VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,886 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $312,900,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 8.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 13.8% during 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. UBS Group AG increased its stake in VeriSign by 191.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $283.41 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $280.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.76. The company has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.80%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total value of $146,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,872,615.95. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,796 shares of company stock valued at $2,754,418. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.