Legal & General Group Plc Has $174.62 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its VeriSign stake by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 718,734 shares valued at about $174.6 million.
• VeriSign reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $2.34 beating estimates and revenue of $428.9 million topping expectations; revenue rose 6.6% year over year.
• The stock has been active with insider selling and analyst support: two executives sold shares recently, while several analysts maintained or raised bullish views, giving VeriSign a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $317.67 average price target.

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 718,734 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,126 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.78% of VeriSign worth $174,616,000 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 the stock. Swedbank AB raised its stake in VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 65,199 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 312,661 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $75,961,000 after purchasing an additional 45,511 shares in the last quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's 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 owned 40,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,277,689.84. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,354. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $295.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $272.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.28.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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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