Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $3.10 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 41.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,085 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,246 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at about $539,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 5.2% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 81,961 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 104.9% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 57.6% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 31,427 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,786,000 after acquiring an additional 11,481 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 37.2% in the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,963,000 after acquiring an additional 3,844 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $238.61 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $236.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.69. The firm has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total value of $1,241,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,275,771.80. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total value of $124,041.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,501,044.20. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,158 shares of company stock worth $3,956,185. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company 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.