Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases 2,456 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 27.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 112.5% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. North Capital Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,501,044.20. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,275,771.80. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,158 shares of company stock worth $3,956,185. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.6%

VeriSign stock opened at $238.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $236.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign 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.