Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,669 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,862 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of VeriSign worth $19,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $242.38 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $236.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.78%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 18,158 shares of company stock valued at $4,440,325 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reduced their target price on 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 upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.