VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Cuts Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al trimmed its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 300,931 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 146,260 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $73,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% during 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 period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,826 shares of company stock worth $1,821,354. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VRSN. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.2%

VRSN stock opened at $285.80 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $258.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.61. The stock has a market cap of $26.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

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.