Oxbow Advisors LLC Grows Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its VeriSign stake by 81.9% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 27,014 shares valued at about $6.56 million.
• Several other institutions also increased positions, and institutional investors now own 92.9% of VeriSign’s stock, underscoring strong professional ownership.
• VeriSign reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $2.34 on revenue of $428.9 million, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $317.67.

Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 81.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,014 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,161 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $154,325,000 after buying an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $985,063,000 after buying an additional 426,492 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in VeriSign by 191.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $152,225,000 after buying an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,651,000 after buying an additional 383,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,277,689.84. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,992 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,748 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $288.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $254.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.08.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

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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