AIA Group Ltd Makes New $4.75 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• AIA Group initiated a position in VeriSign during the third quarter, buying 16,829 shares valued at approximately $4.75 million; institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $352. Four analysts rate the stock Buy and two rate it Hold.
• VeriSign’s latest quarterly revenue rose 5.7% year over year to $443 million, beating estimates, while EPS of $2.35 fell short of the $2.46 consensus. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share.

AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,829 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,746,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in VeriSign by 2.8% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 295 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price target on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $352.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $318.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.36. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $324.20. The company has a market capitalization of $28.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 0.66.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.06% and a negative return on equity of 38.40%. The company had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $440.58 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total transaction of $960,597.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 394,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,959,300.43. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 45,856 shares of company stock worth $13,556,803 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN provides internet infrastructure services that support the global domain name system. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains and provides registry services for certain other domains, helping maintain the databases that connect domain names with internet addresses.

The company's services include domain name registry operations, domain name registration-related support for accredited registrars, and infrastructure designed to improve the availability, stability, and security of internet naming services.

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