Alta Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Alta Capital Management cut its VeriSign stake by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,070 shares and leaving it with 53,828 shares worth about $13.1 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is constructive: several analysts raised targets or upgraded the stock, and MarketBeat shows an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $317.67 price target.
• VeriSign reported solid quarterly results, posting $2.34 EPS and $428.9 million in revenue, both slightly above expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share.

Alta Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,828 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 12,070 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for about 0.9% of Alta Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of VeriSign worth $13,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 394.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $985,063,000 after buying an additional 426,492 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in VeriSign by 191.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $152,225,000 after buying an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,651,000 after buying an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $305.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $263.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.06.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,354 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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