Intech Investment Management LLC Has $8.19 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management cut its VeriSign stake by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 46,786 shares and leaving it with 33,708 shares worth about $8.19 million.
• Insiders have also been selling: EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares and EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares, bringing total insider sales over the last 90 days to 6,826 shares.
• VeriSign beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.34 and revenue of $428.9 million, while analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a price target of $317.67.

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,708 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 46,786 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, WealthCollab LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at $10,316,832.12. The trade was a 1.29% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,826 shares of company stock worth $1,821,354. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $285.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's 50-day moving average is $274.64 and its 200-day moving average is $252.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 35.80%.

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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