VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,074 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 69,160 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.24% of VeriSign worth $52,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first 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 during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $241.14 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $235.56 and a 200-day moving average of $249.31.

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). The company had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 1.3%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,275,771.80. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,338,621. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.