VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its VeriSign stake by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 189,821 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 547,432 shares worth about $133 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive on VRSN, with three analysts rating it a Buy and two a Hold; the consensus price target is $317.67.
• VeriSign recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reported $2.34 EPS on $428.9 million in revenue, and also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share for a 1.1% yield.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,432 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 189,821 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.60% of VeriSign worth $132,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in VeriSign by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird increased 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. 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. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, 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. Three equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total value of $146,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,872,615.95. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,796 shares of company stock valued at $2,754,418. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $288.09 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83 and a beta of 0.69. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued 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 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio 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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