Bank of Nova Scotia Buys Shares of 63,905 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 63,905 VeriSign shares during the second quarter, worth approximately $16.1 million and representing about 0.07% of the company.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 92.9%, while insiders sold 36,500 shares worth roughly $10.1 million over the past 90 days.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $328.75. VeriSign recently exceeded quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $2.38 in EPS and $434.6 million in revenue.

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 63,905 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,076,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.07% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $479,000. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $5,842,000. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $464,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,477,000. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth $1,383,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,100,984.85. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $328.75.

VeriSign Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $290.79 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54 and a beta of 0.70. The business's 50 day moving average is $272.96 and its 200-day moving average is $264.96.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.VeriSign's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a 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.

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source