Corient Private Wealth LP Acquires New Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 74,287 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,687,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Danske Bank A S raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,609,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 208.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $13,636,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total value of $960,828.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 398,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,907,593.24. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. This represents a 1.43% 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. Insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock worth $11,020,624 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $291.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.37. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

VeriSign 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.