Alberta Investment Management Corp Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,500 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,427,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $284.24 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.65. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Company 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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