Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 15,438 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust trimmed its stake in VeriSign by 6.7%, selling 15,438 shares and now holds 214,686 shares (about 0.23% of the company) valued at roughly $52.2 million; institutional ownership stands at 92.9%.
• VeriSign reported an EPS miss of $2.23 vs. $2.29 expected while revenue came in at $425.3M (up 7.6% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 ($3.24 annually, ~1.2% yield).
• Analysts are broadly positive with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of about $297, even as insiders have sold ~2,490 shares in the past three months.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 214,686 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 15,438 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of VeriSign worth $52,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Up 2.6%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $275.26 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $239.64 and a 200 day moving average of $246.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $297.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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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