Raiffeisen Bank International AG Sells 13,077 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Raiffeisen Bank International AG reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 38.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 13,077 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $312,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $293,335,000 after purchasing an additional 44,743 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $279.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.51. The stock has a market cap of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. On average, analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,596 shares of company stock valued at $3,834,345. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup raised their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

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.