Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 10,028 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 204,658 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,028 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $50,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its position in VeriSign by 788.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total value of $67,307.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,010.73. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,798 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,432. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $270.11 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $279.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.49. The company has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results 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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

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.