Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Danske Bank A S increased its stake in VeriSign by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,609,000 after buying an additional 12,220 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 146,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,495,000 after buying an additional 22,020 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in VeriSign by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,886,000 after buying an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in VeriSign by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,688 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,179,000 after buying an additional 11,249 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after acquiring an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.
Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign
In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $10,363,670.54. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 33,200 shares of company stock worth $9,142,891 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
VeriSign Stock Down 4.0%
NASDAQ VRSN opened at $272.77 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $273.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.82.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.
About VeriSign
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.
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