Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 17,419 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Los Angeles Capital Management disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in VeriSign, buying 17,419 shares worth about $4.1 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 92.9% of VeriSign shares held by hedge funds and other institutions, while insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.
• VeriSign reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, and analysts remain cautiously positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $317.67.

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 17,419 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,104,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st 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. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total value of $146,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,872,615.95. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 9,796 shares of company stock worth $2,754,418 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Stock Down 3.9%

VRSN stock opened at $283.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $280.61 and a 200-day moving average of $254.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. VeriSign's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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