212,052 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Bought by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 212,052 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,253,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Danske Bank A S lifted its position in VeriSign by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,609,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in VeriSign by 208.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,636,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,800 shares of company stock worth $11,020,624 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.3%

VRSN opened at $292.99 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $273.92 and a 200 day moving average of $265.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The stock has a market cap of $26.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

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.