VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 202.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,983 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,685 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 191.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 1,035.6% in 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 buying an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This trade represents a 1.35% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 28,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,872,034 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $290.02 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $274.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.64. The stock has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Company 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.