VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its VeriSign stake by 17.7% in Q4 to 146,100 shares, worth about $35.5 million.
• Q4 results: VeriSign reported $2.23 EPS (missed estimates by $0.06) and $425.3M revenue (slightly above expectations), with revenue up 7.6% year-over-year and analysts holding a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $297.
• Dividend increased to $0.81 quarterly (annualized $3.24, ~1.2% yield), and institutional investors own roughly 92.9% of the stock.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 146,100 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,020 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned about 0.16% of VeriSign worth $35,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $269.83 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $244.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.72. The company has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total transaction of $124,041.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,501,044.20. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.