Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 214,686 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,438 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $52,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $275.26 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $239.64 and its 200 day moving average is $246.89. The company has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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 dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.