Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $326.12 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital trimmed its VeriSign stake by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, but still held 1,342,349 shares worth about $326.1 million, or 1.46% of the company.
• VeriSign reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.34 beating estimates and revenue of $428.9 million topping forecasts; revenue rose 6.6% year over year.
• Analysts remain largely positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $317.67, while the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,342,349 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 38,952 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.46% of VeriSign worth $326,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $279.89 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The stock has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $283.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing 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, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

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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