TD Asset Management Inc Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 630,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,938 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc owned 0.68% of VeriSign worth $176,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in 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 purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. North Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 434,099 shares in the company, valued at $106,176,274.41. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total transaction of $125,285.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,904,462.63. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,662 shares of company stock worth $5,799,697 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $214.50 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35 and a beta of 0.75.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 36.78%.

VeriSign 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.