Achmea Investment Management B.V. Increases Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,590 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. owned 0.11% of VeriSign worth $29,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth about $654,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in VeriSign by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 357,611 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $99,977,000 after purchasing an additional 36,829 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 9.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,800,000. Finally, Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $242.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.56.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.78%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total value of $79,885.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,651.52. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,338,621 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company 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.