Versor Investments LP Trims Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Versor Investments LP cut its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 82.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 896 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,201 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in VeriSign by 394.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $154,325,000 after purchasing an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $124,066,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in VeriSign by 496.3% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 352,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $101,797,000 after purchasing an additional 293,373 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $219.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.90. The company has a market cap of $20.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86 and a beta of 0.75. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced 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 business had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 34.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 166 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.24, for a total transaction of $36,393.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,213,122.52. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,662 shares of company stock valued at $7,542,047 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.