Westpac Banking Corp Sells 2,573 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Westpac Banking Corp cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,573 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $262.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $277.52 and a 200 day moving average of $258.96.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,010.73. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 422,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on shares of VeriSign in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.25.

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.