Sei Investments Co. Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Sei Investments increased its VeriSign stake by 10.2% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 109,940 shares worth approximately $27.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.9% of VRSN.
• VeriSign exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.38 in earnings per share and $434.6 million in revenue, with revenue rising 6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.2% yield.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on VRSN, with an average price target of $328.75 versus its recent price of $274.82. Four analysts rate the stock a Buy, while two recommend Hold.

Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,940 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,195 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.12% of VeriSign worth $27,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in VeriSign by 95.9% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,206 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in VeriSign by 9.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,522 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 20.6% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 719,987 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $178,816,000 after buying an additional 123,006 shares in the last quarter. CacheTech Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 60.1% during the 1st quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 2,258 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,723 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,408,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $274.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81 and a beta of 0.71. The company's 50-day moving average is $275.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.60. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, 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 transaction of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at $112,513,229.51. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,300 shares of company stock valued at $5,770,842 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.75.

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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