3,700 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Purchased by Pensionfund Sabic

Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $899,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,249,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $894,414,000 after buying an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $154,325,000 after buying an additional 440,289 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $117,651,000 after buying an additional 383,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,275,771.80. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,338,621 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $251.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $235.60 and a 200-day moving average of $249.33. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.00.

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.