VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Cwm LLC

Key Points

• Cwm LLC trimmed its VeriSign stake by 11.4% in Q4, selling 9,667 shares to hold 75,456 shares (~$18.3M), while major institutions (Vanguard, State Street, AQR) increased positions — institutional ownership is 92.9%.
• EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares on April 14 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; insiders have sold 2,490 shares (~$626,690) in the last three months and now own 0.84% of the company.
• VeriSign reported Q4 EPS of $2.23 (missing estimates of $2.29) with revenue up 7.6% to $425.3M, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 (annualized $3.24, 1.2% yield), and carries a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy with a $297 target.

Cwm LLC decreased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,456 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,667 shares during the period. Cwm LLC owned approximately 0.08% of VeriSign worth $18,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 8.1% in the third 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 period. State Street Corp lifted its position in VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 13.8% in the third 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 period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in VeriSign by 4.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $293,335,000 after purchasing an additional 44,743 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in VeriSign by 12.3% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 965,600 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $269,953,000 after purchasing an additional 105,532 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.1%

VRSN stock opened at $274.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $241.26 and a 200-day moving average of $247.00. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11 and a beta of 0.70.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

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