Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Increases Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 403,179 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,503 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $97,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthCollab LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 312 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $279.89 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $283.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.68. The firm has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total value of $938,157.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 436,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,961,527.31. The trade was a 0.75% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup lifted 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

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.