24,071 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. lowered its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 19.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 24,071 shares during the quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $28,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,044,157,000 after purchasing an additional 73,583 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $699,916,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 48.5% in the 1st quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 915,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $227,252,000 after purchasing an additional 298,895 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research cut VeriSign from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price target on VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $313.02 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $324.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $300.21 and a 200-day moving average of $274.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.06% and a negative return on equity of 38.40%. The company had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $440.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 34.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.07, for a total transaction of $155,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,612.65. This trade represents a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.99, for a total value of $1,016,367.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 361,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,469,896.73. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 49,156 shares of company stock worth $14,582,030 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc. operates critical internet infrastructure, best known for managing the domain-name registries for .com and .net. It provides the systems that allow domain names in these extensions to be registered and resolved through the Domain Name System, working with registrars that serve businesses and individuals. The company also provides registry services for other domain extensions and supports the security and stability of the internet’s naming infrastructure. Its services are used globally through a network of registrars and other internet service providers.