Gotham Asset Management LLC Buys 94,909 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 90.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 199,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,909 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $48,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 3.3%

VRSN opened at $264.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $283.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.08. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 16,896 shares of company stock valued at $4,739,271 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.