National Pension Service Sells 142,733 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

National Pension Service cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 87.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,513 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 142,733 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service's holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $985,063,000 after acquiring an additional 426,492 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 718,734 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $174,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,126 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Stock Up 3.9%

VeriSign stock opened at $296.59 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.27. The company has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.77 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,928. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

About VeriSign

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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