California State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,798 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,187 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $28,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 296.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 412,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $102,449,000 after purchasing an additional 308,411 shares in the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 48.5% during the first quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 915,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $227,252,000 after purchasing an additional 298,895 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 186.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 234,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,172,000 after buying an additional 152,478 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 15.8% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 14,177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,521,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth about $507,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $290.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $274.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at $10,363,670.54. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 28,900 shares of company stock worth $7,872,034 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign 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.