Neuberger Berman Group LLC Trims Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Neuberger Berman Group LLC cut its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,399 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $300,249,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $154,325,000 after purchasing an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in VeriSign by 496.3% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 352,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $101,797,000 after purchasing an additional 293,373 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $243.78 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,659 shares of company stock worth $5,788,560. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.