Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. Buys New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,850 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $717,000. VeriSign makes up about 0.7% of Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 321,737 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $699,916,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,247,000 after purchasing an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.0%

VeriSign stock opened at $284.24 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $273.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.57.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

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.