Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Decreases Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd cut its VeriSign stake by 56.1% in the first quarter, selling 24,439 shares and ending with 19,089 shares worth about $4.77 million.
• VeriSign reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $2.34 versus $2.30 expected and revenue of $428.9 million, up 6.6% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: analysts currently view VeriSign as a Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $325.25, while insiders have also been trimming shares recently.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 56.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,089 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 24,439 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $362,247,000 after purchasing an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $312,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $293,335,000 after purchasing an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Wedbush started coverage on VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.25.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.0%

VRSN stock opened at $277.61 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The stock's 50 day moving average is $278.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.66. The company has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942. 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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