Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 10,449 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 37.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,270 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,449 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in VeriSign by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 981 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA increased its holdings in VeriSign by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 5,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 77.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 41,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $269.78 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $243.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.56. The company has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 2,490 shares of company stock valued at $626,690 in the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.