VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon cut its VeriSign stake by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 15,987 shares and leaving it with 539,532 shares worth about $131.1 million.
• Several other institutions were active in VRSN, including Norges Bank buying a new position and Vanguard, Envestnet, AQR, and UBS increasing their holdings. Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 92.9% of VeriSign.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock: ratings include upgrades and higher price targets, with MarketBeat showing a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $317.67. VeriSign also recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and paid a $0.81 quarterly dividend.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 539,532 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 15,987 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.59% of VeriSign worth $131,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $154,325,000 after purchasing an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 191.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. 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. 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. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.67.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,872,615.95. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 10,128 shares of company stock valued at $2,834,304 over the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $294.92 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $279.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 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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