Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Invests $15.21 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 60,461 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,210,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.07% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $699,916,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in VeriSign by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,247,000 after buying an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total value of $916,905.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 401,389 shares in the company, valued at $111,525,933.65. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $293.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $273.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.33. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released 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 net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.14%.

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.