Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Acquires Shares of 56,136 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA opened a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter, buying 56,136 shares valued at about $13.6 million.
• VeriSign reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.34 versus estimates of $2.30 and revenue of $428.9 million, up 6.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which equates to an annualized payout of $3.24 and a yield of about 1.1%.

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 56,136 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,636,000. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA owned 0.06% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 51.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $288.21 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $254.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.08.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be 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 is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,992 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,748 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

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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