Mackenzie Financial Corp Sells 164,959 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its VeriSign stake by 43.4%, selling 164,959 shares in Q3 and now holds 215,278 shares valued at roughly $60.19 million (about 0.23% of the company).
• VeriSign reported Q earnings of $2.23 per share (missing the $2.29 consensus) with revenue of $425.3M (+7.6% y/y) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 ($3.24 annual, ~1.4% yield).
• Insiders have recently sold stock (16,490 shares, ~$4.04M over 90 days) and analysts carry a consensus "Hold" rating with a $292 price target.

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 43.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,278 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 164,959 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.23% of VeriSign worth $60,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. North Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% during the third quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $235.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.47. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This is a boost from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total transaction of $123,857.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,613 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,759.23. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total transaction of $1,241,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,275,771.80. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 16,490 shares of company stock worth $4,036,071 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Company 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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