Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 32,284 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its VeriSign stake by 58.6% in the second quarter, selling 32,284 shares and retaining 22,839 shares valued at approximately $5.75 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of VRSN.
• VeriSign reported quarterly EPS of $2.38, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 6% year over year to $434.6 million. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating, with an average price target of $328.75 compared with the reported share price of $284.24.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 58.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,839 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 32,284 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupe la Francaise raised its stake in VeriSign by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $284.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $273.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.57. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 35.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush raised their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.75.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 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 transaction of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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