Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Raises Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 29.3% to 49,688 shares (about $12.18M) in Q4, and institutional investors now own 92.9% of the company with several firms (e.g., Wealth Enhancement) materially increasing positions.
• VeriSign reported quarterly EPS of $2.23, missing estimates by $0.06, while revenue grew 7.6% year‑over‑year to $425.3M and net margin remained high (~49.8%).
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 (annualized $3.24, ~1.2% yield), and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target around $297.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,688 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,249 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of VeriSign worth $12,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $654,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in VeriSign by 11.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 357,611 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $99,977,000 after purchasing an additional 36,829 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in VeriSign by 9.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,719 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $26,647,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 152.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $75,922,000 after purchasing an additional 186,029 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $275.81 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $242.38 and its 200 day moving average is $246.58. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.31 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $297.00.

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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