VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Moore Capital Management LP

Moore Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 292.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Danske Bank A S lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,609,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in VeriSign by 208.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $13,636,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total value of $960,828.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 398,089 shares in the company, valued at $115,907,593.24. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 36,000 shares of company stock worth $9,892,248 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $288.28 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $275.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.17. The company has a market capitalization of $26.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

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.