VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its VeriSign stake by 20% in the first quarter, selling 84,776 shares and retaining 339,853 shares valued at approximately $84.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.9% of VRSN.
• VeriSign reported quarterly revenue of $434.6 million, up 6% year over year, and earnings of $2.38 per share, exceeding analyst expectations. Analysts have a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $328.75.
• VRSN shares opened at $294.56, near the upper end of their 52-week range, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 20.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 339,853 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 84,776 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.37% of VeriSign worth $84,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in VeriSign by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 146,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $35,495,000 after buying an additional 22,020 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,609,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,688 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,179,000 after acquiring an additional 11,249 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $41,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,636,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 409,639 shares in the company, valued at $121,474,349.06. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total transaction of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,700 shares of company stock valued at $8,996,716 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $294.56 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a PE ratio of 31.95 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average 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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