AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Acquires 20,133 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 57.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,909 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,133 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.06% of VeriSign worth $15,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. North Capital Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 239.0% during the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 434,099 shares in the company, valued at $106,176,274.41. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total value of $125,285.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,609 shares in the company, valued at $7,904,462.63. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,161 shares of company stock valued at $5,673,134. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $235.42 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $237.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.73. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

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.