Engineers Gate Manager LP Cuts Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its VeriSign stake by 78.9% in the second quarter, selling 34,169 shares and retaining 9,136 shares valued at approximately $2.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of VeriSign.
• VeriSign reported quarterly earnings of $2.38 per share, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 6% year over year to $434.6 million. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with the stock carrying an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $333; however, insiders have sold 36,500 shares worth about $10.1 million over the past three months.

Engineers Gate Manager LP lessened its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 78.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,136 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 34,169 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 112.3% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,938 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.4% in the second quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,775 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in VeriSign by 71.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,414 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $298.60 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $283.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.39. The company has a market cap of $26.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total transaction of $938,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 391,627 shares in the company, valued at $111,378,718.80. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,096,482. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $333.00.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.

VeriSign's services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.

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