126,616 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Purchased by Man Group plc

Man Group plc bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 126,616 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,852,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $292.99 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $273.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 39,800 shares of company stock worth $11,020,624 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign 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.