VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Stake Lifted by Braun Stacey Associates Inc.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,860 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. owned about 0.05% of VeriSign worth $13,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $894,414,000 after buying an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 477.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $200,880,000 after buying an additional 654,170 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 161.4% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 860,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $248,388,000 after buying an additional 531,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $307,098,000 after acquiring an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $242.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $246.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.46. The company has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.66 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.90%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at $125,200,055.23. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,033.99. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,839 shares of company stock worth $12,042,404. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $281.67.

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.