Barclays PLC Purchases 130,683 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Barclays PLC increased its VeriSign stake by 40.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 130,683 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 454,292 shares worth about $110.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several large investors also adding to positions, including Norges Bank and Vanguard, and institutions now owning 92.9% of VeriSign’s stock.
• VeriSign posted solid quarterly results and maintains a dividend: earnings and revenue topped expectations, revenue rose 6.6% year over year, and the company recently paid a $0.81 quarterly dividend for a 1.2% annualized yield.

Barclays PLC boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 40.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 454,292 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 130,683 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.50% of VeriSign worth $110,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $312,900,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in VeriSign by 191.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 1,035.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign 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 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 $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 13,596 shares of company stock valued at $3,834,345 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $272.96 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.16 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $283.57 and a 200-day moving average of $255.84.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.67.

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.

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.