7,774 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Acquired by Jupiter Topco LLC

Key Points

• Jupiter Topco LLC acquired 7,774 VeriSign shares worth approximately $1.95 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• VeriSign exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.38 in EPS and $434.6 million in revenue, up 6% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, yielding about 1.1%.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $333; meanwhile, insiders sold 39,800 shares worth nearly $11 million during the quarter.

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,774 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,954,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $41,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 208.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,324,000 after buying an additional 9,046 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,973,000 after buying an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,636,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,116,154,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 422,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $112,513,229.51. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,800 shares of company stock worth $10,998,235. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.2%

VRSN stock opened at $293.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.49 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush boosted their target price on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $333.00.

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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