Citigroup Inc. Has $37.71 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Citigroup Inc. lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 134,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 31,911 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.15% of VeriSign worth $37,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter valued at $29,000. North Capital Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 239.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $213.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23 and a beta of 0.75. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.24, for a total transaction of $36,393.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,213,122.52. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 23,662 shares of company stock worth $5,799,697 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.