1,287,918 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Bought by Norges Bank

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in VeriSign, buying 1,287,918 shares worth about $312.9 million in the fourth quarter, giving it roughly 1.4% ownership of the company.
• VeriSign's latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $2.34 versus $2.30 expected and revenue of $428.9 million, up 6.6% year over year.
• The stock has seen mixed signals from insiders and analysts: executives recently sold shares, while several analysts raised price targets and the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average target of $317.67.

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,287,918 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $312,900,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.40% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 8.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 394.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $154,325,000 after buying an additional 440,289 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 191.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 1,035.6% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were 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 directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at $10,316,832.12. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 6,328 shares of company stock worth $1,705,928 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 3.9%

VRSN opened at $296.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 32.77 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $275.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.27.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

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.

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