The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys Shares of 41,334 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 41,334 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,398,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $1,248,000. Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $4,156,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $30,308,955. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $2,507,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $4,054,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $291.93 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $275.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.37. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total transaction of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. This represents a 1.43% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock worth $11,020,624. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Wedbush raised their price target on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

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.