VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Danske Bank A S

Danske Bank A S boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $15,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,490 shares of company stock worth $1,981,790. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $272.44 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

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.