Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 57.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,427 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,481 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,135,632,000 after acquiring an additional 73,931 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $670,685,000 after purchasing an additional 44,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,689.84. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,659 shares of company stock worth $5,788,560 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $243.78 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $236.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

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.