KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Grows Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 146,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,020 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $35,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 0.8% in the third quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management increased its stake in VeriSign by 11.6% in the third quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 452 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 51.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

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

VeriSign Trading Up 0.0%

VeriSign stock opened at $269.83 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $244.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.72. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. 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 note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.00.

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.