Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 126,616 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Man Group plc bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 126,616 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $31,852,000. Man Group plc owned about 0.14% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.75.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total transaction of $960,828.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 398,089 shares in the company, valued at $115,907,593.24. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,624. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $292.99 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The stock has a market cap of $26.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $273.92 and a 200-day moving average of $265.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

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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