Amiral Gestion Invests $2.48 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Amiral Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,883 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,483,000. VeriSign comprises 0.9% of Amiral Gestion’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,056,268,000 after buying an additional 68,355 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,135,632,000 after acquiring an additional 73,931 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $670,685,000 after purchasing an additional 44,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $244.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.82. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $191.12 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.67.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total value of $125,285.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,904,462.63. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.25, for a total transaction of $488,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 423,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,341,930.75. The trade was a 0.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,042,404 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company 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.