VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $328.75.

A number of analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $284.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $273.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.57. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that VeriSign will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at $8,752,855.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 409,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,474,349.06. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Danske Bank A S boosted its stake in VeriSign by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,609,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased 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 purchasing an additional 22,020 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,249 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% 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.