Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys 22,503 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 403,179 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,503 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of VeriSign worth $97,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 454,292 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $110,370,000 after acquiring an additional 130,683 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 837.9% during the 4th quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 12,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,930,000 after acquiring an additional 10,776 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in VeriSign by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 311 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in VeriSign by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 10,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VRSN opened at $279.89 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $283.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.68. The firm has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

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.