Andra AP fonden Buys 11,580 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Andra AP fonden increased its VeriSign stake by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 11,580 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 134,780 shares worth about $32.7 million.
• VeriSign insiders have been selling shares, including CEO D. James Bidzos and EVP Danny R. Mcpherson, with insiders selling 13,596 shares worth about $3.8 million over the last three months.
• VeriSign posted solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $317.67.

Andra AP fonden increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 134,780 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,580 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden owned 0.15% of VeriSign worth $32,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ASO GROUP Ltd bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $1,281,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in VeriSign by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 51,896 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,608,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the period. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 72,763 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,678,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 354,183 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $86,049,000 after purchasing an additional 30,211 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total transaction of $938,157.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 436,039 shares in the company, valued at $123,961,527.31. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $279.57 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50 day moving average is $282.73 and its 200 day moving average is $255.51.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

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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