Seven Grand Managers LLC Lowers Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Seven Grand Managers LLC trimmed its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 62,500 shares during the quarter. VeriSign makes up 1.2% of Seven Grand Managers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Seven Grand Managers LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $15,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 6,926 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 3,644 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 718,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $174,616,000 after buying an additional 43,126 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 65,199 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,840,000 after buying an additional 2,273 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after buying an additional 5,267 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 312,661 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,961,000 after buying an additional 45,511 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $295.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $272.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.28.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,354 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.