Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its VeriSign stake by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 81,932 shares valued at about $19.9 million.
• Several analysts turned more bullish on VeriSign, with JPMorgan, Baird, and Citi all raising price targets; the stock now has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $327.67.
• VeriSign reported better-than-expected Q1 results with EPS of $2.34 and revenue of $428.9 million, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share for a 1.2% yield.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the 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 approximately 0.09% of VeriSign worth $19,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in VeriSign by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,223,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $26,647,000. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,904,000 after acquiring an additional 10,637 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 152.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,922,000 after acquiring an additional 186,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sienna Gestion bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,139,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,896 shares of company stock valued at $4,739,271. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $264.64 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $283.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.22.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The company'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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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