Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 46,301 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,381,301 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 46,301 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.49% of VeriSign worth $386,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. North Capital Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $235.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 36.78%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total transaction of $1,241,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 416,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,275,771.80. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total transaction of $123,857.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,613,759.23. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 16,490 shares of company stock worth $4,036,071 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup dropped their price target on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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 report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

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.