BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Trims Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 308,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,025 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.33% of VeriSign worth $85,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. North Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st 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 period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $216.62 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $240.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.60. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $19.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59 and a beta of 0.75.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 34.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.24, for a total transaction of $36,393.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,213,122.52. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,662 shares of company stock worth $5,799,697. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Company 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.