DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 3,446 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale has reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 3.7%, selling 3,446 shares and owning approximately $25.5 million worth of the stock post-sale.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group, AQR Capital Management, and Amundi, increased their holdings in VeriSign, demonstrating strong interest in the company's stock.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for VeriSign, with Robert W. Baird increasing their target from $285 to $305, reflecting positive sentiment about the company's future.

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,470 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,446 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.09% of VeriSign worth $25,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,669,263,000 after buying an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $586,417,000 after buying an additional 1,002,510 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $293,835,000 after buying an additional 60,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $259,987,000 after buying an additional 49,478 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.50.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 508,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,392,123.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,706 shares of company stock worth $10,591,676. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $251.94 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The firm's fifty day moving average is $274.47 and its 200 day moving average is $274.28. The firm has a market cap of $23.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.

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