Amundi Decreases Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its VeriSign stake by 18.9% in the first quarter, selling 127,848 shares and retaining 547,980 shares worth approximately $136.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• VeriSign reported quarterly revenue of $434.6 million and earnings of $2.38 per share, narrowly exceeding analyst estimates; revenue increased 6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, yielding about 1.1% annually.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75. Shares opened at $290.02, while company insiders have sold $7.87 million worth of stock over the past three months.

Amundi cut its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 18.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,980 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 127,848 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.60% of VeriSign worth $136,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.1% during the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total value of $927,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 412,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,118,446.80. This trade represents a 0.79% 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 have sold 28,900 shares of company stock worth $7,872,034 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $290.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 0.71. The business's 50 day moving average is $274.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.64. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's 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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