VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wedbush

Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $318.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.25.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $275.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.21.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that VeriSign will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,010.73. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 191.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after acquiring an additional 411,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383,771 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.