Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $120.09 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 429,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,290 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $120,094,000 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 the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the third quarter worth about $29,000. North Capital Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 239.0% during the third quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 51.5% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 18,158 shares of company stock worth $4,440,325 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $242.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.91. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $22.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued 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 net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.78%.

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.