Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $696,000 Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 43.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,804 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,130 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,247,000 after acquiring an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $312,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in VeriSign by 4.5% in the third 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. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $255.90 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $280.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.48. The company has a market capitalization of $23.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28 and a beta of 0.71.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total value of $828,102.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 426,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,935,320.66. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 23,496 shares of company stock worth $6,387,522 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup boosted 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 restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.67.

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.