Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,034 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,901 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $11,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $985,063,000 after acquiring an additional 426,492 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 675,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $188,880,000 after acquiring an additional 11,440 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $305.93 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $267.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.49. The company has a market capitalization of $27.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,354. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.