VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 64.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 59,601 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth $34,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $248.64 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $255.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.04. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $185.69 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.67.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,033.99. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total transaction of $1,327,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at $125,200,055.23. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 47,839 shares of company stock worth $12,651,601 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.