Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys Shares of 502,542 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon acquired 502,542 VeriSign shares worth approximately $126.4 million, giving it a 0.56% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: VeriSign has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $328.75, with recent target increases from Wedbush and JPMorgan.
• VeriSign exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.38 in EPS and $434.6 million in revenue, up 6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, equivalent to a 1.1% annualized yield.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 502,542 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $126,420,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.56% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in VeriSign by 191.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $152,225,000 after buying an additional 411,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 1,035.6% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total transaction of $916,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 401,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at $111,525,933.65. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,500 shares of company stock worth $10,059,796 over the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $281.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $272.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.63.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

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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