Swiss National Bank Reduces Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 12,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $68,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total value of $1,241,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 416,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,275,771.80. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total transaction of $123,857.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,613,759.23. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 16,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,071 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of VRSN opened at $235.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $21.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $236.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.58. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 36.78%.

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.