VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Bought by Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP

Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 48.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 915,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 298,895 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for 8.3% of Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $227,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in VeriSign by 191.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after buying an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 1,035.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after buying an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in VeriSign by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after buying an additional 321,737 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.9%

VRSN stock opened at $274.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $275.93 and a 200-day moving average of $259.60. The company has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,010.73. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at $112,513,229.51. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 21,300 shares of company stock worth $5,770,842 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

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.