BlackRock Inc. Invests $2.12 Billion in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 8.4 million VeriSign shares worth approximately $2.12 billion, giving it a 9.32% stake. Institutional investors now own 92.9% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $328.75, above VeriSign’s $273.03 share price.
• VeriSign exceeded quarterly expectations with $2.38 earnings per share and $434.6 million in revenue, while revenue grew 6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, yielding about 1.2% annually.

BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,412,124 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,116,154,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 9.32% of VeriSign as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $149,686,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $145,362,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $126,420,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $273.03 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $272.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.18. The stock has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors 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 yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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