VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 675,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,440 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.73% of VeriSign worth $188,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew 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 buying an additional 73,931 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $670,685,000 after acquiring an additional 44,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $300,249,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

VeriSign Stock Down 0.2%

VRSN stock opened at $235.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $236.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.47. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,275,771.80. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total value of $123,857.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,613 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,759.23. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,071. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company 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.