VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 18,386 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. North Capital Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 239.0% during the third 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 lifted its position in VeriSign by 51.5% in the third 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. lifted its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first 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. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.1%

VRSN stock opened at $241.26 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $236.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $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 was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.78%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total value of $124,041.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,115 shares in the company, valued at $7,501,044.20. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total value of $1,241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,275,771.80. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,490 shares of company stock worth $2,827,121. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.