Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Purchases 71,570 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its VeriSign stake by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, buying 71,570 additional shares and bringing its holding to 960,991 shares worth about $233.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: VeriSign now has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a target price of $317.67, while several firms recently lifted their price targets.
• VeriSign reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, implying a 1.1% annual yield.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 960,991 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 71,570 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 1.05% of VeriSign worth $233,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthCollab LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 312 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total value of $146,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,051 shares in the company, valued at $10,872,615.95. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% 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. Insiders sold a total of 10,128 shares of company stock worth $2,834,304 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4%

VRSN opened at $294.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $279.96 and a 200-day moving average of $254.49. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

VeriSign Company 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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