Ieq Capital LLC Acquires New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 138,596 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,865,000. Ieq Capital LLC owned about 0.15% of VeriSign as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Danske Bank A S increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,609,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in VeriSign by 208.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,636,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $281.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $272.60 and its 200 day moving average is $264.54. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total value of $916,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 401,389 shares in the company, valued at $111,525,933.65. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. 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 36,500 shares of company stock worth $10,059,796 in the last three months. 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.