Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Makes New Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 56,395 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,187,000. VeriSign accounts for approximately 2.3% of Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd owned 0.06% of VeriSign as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position in VeriSign by 788.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $281.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $272.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.63. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $10,059,796. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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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