Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $4.20 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,270 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,449 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the period. LBP AM SA boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 5,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,293,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 77.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 41,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,996,000 after buying an additional 5,880 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $269.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $243.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.56. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The company had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total transaction of $124,041.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,501,044.20. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.