Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 25,704 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,466,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in 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. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 12.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 104.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $288.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $276.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total transaction of $140,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,752,855.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total value of $960,828.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 398,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,907,593.24. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,000 shares of company stock worth $9,892,248 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $333.00.

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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