Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 21,896 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors cut its VeriSign position by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 21,896 shares and leaving it with 81,932 shares valued at about $19.9 million.
• VeriSign beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $2.34 EPS versus the $2.30 estimate and revenue of $428.9 million, up 6.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, payable May 27, which works out to an annualized yield of about 1.1%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,932 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 21,896 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.09% of VeriSign worth $19,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 394.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $154,325,000 after purchasing an additional 440,289 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in VeriSign by 191.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $295.14 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $259.81 and a 200-day moving average of $247.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

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 for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend 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 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,316,832.12. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,354 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $317.67.

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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