Quantinno Capital Management LP Increases Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 186.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 234,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,478 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $58,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in VeriSign by 191.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $152,225,000 after buying an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the 3rd 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. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More VeriSign News

Here are the key news stories impacting VeriSign this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded VeriSign to “Strong Buy” from “Hold,” citing growing optimism about the company’s earnings prospects. The upgrade gives investors a fresh bullish signal and may be the main catalyst supporting the stock. VeriSign Upgraded to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis upgraded the stock, arguing that the market may be overlooking aspects of VeriSign’s business and post-earnings outlook. The company’s recurring domain-registry revenue, strong margins and earnings beat provide support for the bullish view. VeriSign Analysis and Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst targets remain above the trading range, with a reported consensus target of $328.75 and several firms maintaining Buy or Outperform ratings. This suggests potential upside, although the stock is already near its 52-week high.
• Neutral Sentiment: VeriSign outperformed several competitors during a broadly weaker session, indicating relative investor resilience, though the report did not identify a new fundamental catalyst. VeriSign Outperforms Competitors
• Negative Sentiment: CEO D. James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares, while EVPs John Calys and Thomas Indelicarto each sold 500 shares. The transactions reduced their individual holdings modestly, but the CEO and EVP sales were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as a bearish signal. VeriSign SEC Insider Sale Filing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush lifted their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total value of $927,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 412,939 shares in the company, valued at $116,118,446.80. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,954,280. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,872,034. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $290.92 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $275.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.17. The stock has a market cap of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55 and a beta of 0.71.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

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.