North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $3.21 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,191 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,205,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $293,335,000 after purchasing an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 675,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $188,880,000 after purchasing an additional 11,440 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $305.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $263.46 and its 200-day moving average is $249.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a PE ratio of 33.74 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related 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 value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. The trade was a 1.29% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,354. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.