VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 63,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,017 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $15,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 159.6% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,647,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 152.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,922,000 after purchasing an additional 186,029 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in VeriSign by 1.7% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 675,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $188,880,000 after purchasing an additional 11,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in VeriSign by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 146,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,495,000 after purchasing an additional 22,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $269.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $279.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.32. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’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 value 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. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,798 shares of company stock worth $7,260,432. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.