Nykredit A S Invests $4.93 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Nykredit A/S purchased a new $4.93 million stake in VeriSign during the second quarter, acquiring 19,608 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of the company.
• VeriSign exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.38 in EPS and $434.6 million in revenue, with revenue up 6% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $333, compared with the stock’s reported price of $292.08.

Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,608 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,933,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $292.08 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $279.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.23. The company has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The firm's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush lifted their target price on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $333.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,235. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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