Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $100.45 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 85.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 413,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 190,868 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for 0.8% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $100,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $296.14 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $273.71 and a 200-day moving average of $252.66. The company has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72 and a beta of 0.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.80%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,316,832.12. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,826 shares of company stock worth $1,821,354 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% 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.