Swiss National Bank Sells 12,900 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 243,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 12,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.26% of VeriSign worth $68,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 0.8% in the third quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management lifted its stake in VeriSign by 11.6% in the third quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 452 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total transaction of $1,241,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,275,771.80. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total value of $123,857.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,613,759.23. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 16,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,071 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $235.73 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $251.58. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $21.62 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

About VeriSign

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.