VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Holdings Reduced by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 47,981 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.35% of VeriSign worth $90,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at $654,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 11.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 357,611 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $99,977,000 after purchasing an additional 36,829 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in VeriSign by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,719 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,749,000 after buying an additional 2,435 shares in the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,800,000. Finally, Abacus FCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 68,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,208,000 after buying an additional 13,837 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total transaction of $125,285.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,904,462.63. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 23,659 shares of company stock worth $5,788,560 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $243.78 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $236.81 and a 200-day moving average of $252.12. The firm has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

About VeriSign

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.