Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Acquires 4,513 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Te Ahumairangi Investment Management increased its VeriSign stake by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,513 additional shares and bringing its total to 51,896 shares worth about $12.6 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive, with several analysts raising price targets; the stock now carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.
• VeriSign posted solid earnings, beating quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while also paying a $0.81 per-share dividend and seeing insider selling during the period.

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,896 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,513 shares during the period. VeriSign makes up approximately 2.3% of Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd owned 0.06% of VeriSign worth $12,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 72,763 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,678,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 354,183 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $86,049,000 after purchasing an additional 30,211 shares during the period. Xponance LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 13,871 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,370,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 16,831 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,089,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised 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, Robert W. Baird raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total transaction of $938,157.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 436,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,961,527.31. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 13,596 shares of company stock worth $3,834,345 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $279.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.51. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 35.80%.

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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