J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 2,089 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 24.1% in the 1st quarter, now holding 6,593 shares valued at approximately $1.67 million after selling 2,089 shares.
• Recent institutional movements include Bank of Nova Scotia increasing its position in VeriSign by 219.3% and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosting its holdings by 819.5% during the same period.
• VeriSign's board approved a $1.11 billion share buyback program, suggesting the stock is seen as undervalued, alongside announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 24.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,593 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,089 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in VeriSign by 219.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 107,429 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $27,273,000 after buying an additional 73,788 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 819.5% during the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,285 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 14,514 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,043,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter worth approximately $453,000. Finally, Tredje AP fonden lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 127.7% in the 1st quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 17,238 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,376,000 after purchasing an additional 9,669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total transaction of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 515,772 shares in the company, valued at $145,112,452.20. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,604 shares of company stock valued at $11,165,804 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $265.37 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $281.61 and its 200 day moving average is $257.91. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.49 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67 and a beta of 0.78.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Company 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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