56,537 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased 56,537 VeriSign shares worth approximately $14.2 million in the second quarter, joining other institutional investors that increased their holdings. Institutions and hedge funds own 92.9% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with VeriSign receiving an average “Buy” rating and an average price target of $328.75. Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $2.38 in EPS and $434.6 million in revenue, up 6% year over year.
• VeriSign’s stock opened at $291.93, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a $3.24 annualized payout and a 1.1% yield. CEO D. James Bidzos and other insiders have sold shares totaling about $11.0 million over the past 90 days.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 56,537 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,222,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.06% of VeriSign as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Groupe la Francaise raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 2.1% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 6.1% during the first quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock worth $11,020,624. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $291.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $275.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.37. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

About VeriSign

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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