VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Position Boosted by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,449 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,899 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of VeriSign worth $47,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,135,632,000 after purchasing an additional 73,931 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 32.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $670,685,000 after purchasing an additional 44,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth $300,249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $227.94 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $237.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.35. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87 and a beta of 0.75.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The business had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.07, for a total transaction of $125,285.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,609 shares in the company, valued at $7,904,462.63. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total transaction of $1,222,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 434,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,176,274.41. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 23,662 shares of company stock worth $5,799,697 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% 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.