Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 60,461 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,210,000.
Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,609,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in VeriSign by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in VeriSign by 208.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares during the period. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,636,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other VeriSign 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.
VeriSign Price Performance
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. On average, 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 declared 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 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 35.14%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.
Read Our Latest Research Report on VeriSign
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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