VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 675,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,440 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $188,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. North Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% during 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 position in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $235.15 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.47.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The business’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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change 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 Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total value of $79,885.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,551,651.52. The trade was a 0.83% 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 this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,071. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

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.