ASO GROUP Ltd Buys New Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

ASO GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,271 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,281,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first 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. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. boosted 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, Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.67.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value 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 approximately $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $279.57 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $282.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.51. The stock has a market cap of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRSN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.