Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 10,560 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management cut its stake in VeriSign by 92.3%10,560 shares during Q4 and ending the period with 883 shares valued at about $215,000.
• VeriSign missed Q earnings estimates with EPS of $2.23 versus $2.29 expected, but revenue rose to $425.3 million (up 7.6% year-over-year) and the company reported a ~49.8% net margin.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 (annualized $3.24, ~1.2% yield), while institutional investors own ~92.9% of the stock and the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a $297 target.

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 92.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 883 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,560 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 8.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in VeriSign by 8.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $985,063,000 after acquiring an additional 426,492 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in VeriSign by 4.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 12.3% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 965,600 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $269,953,000 after acquiring an additional 105,532 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.5%

VeriSign stock opened at $273.85 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08 and a beta of 0.70. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $240.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.07.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 36.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total transaction of $124,041.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,501,044.20. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $297.00.

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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