CX Institutional Boosts Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

CX Institutional lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,004 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in VeriSign by 191.6% in 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. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third 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. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $298.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $274.25 and a 200 day moving average of $261.10.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total value of $927,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 412,939 shares in the company, valued at $116,118,446.80. This trade represents a 0.79% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,872,034. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.