VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Stock Acquired by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group increased its VeriSign stake by 33,723.8% in the third quarter, buying 2.76 million shares to own 2.77 million shares, worth about $781 million.
• VeriSign reported quarterly EPS of $2.35, below the $2.46 consensus estimate, while revenue of $443 million topped forecasts and rose 5.7% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $352; four analysts rate the stock Buy and two rate it Hold.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 33,723.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,770,508 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,762,317 shares during the quarter. VeriSign makes up about 0.8% of Aberdeen Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Aberdeen Group plc owned 3.09% of VeriSign worth $781,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,044,157,000 after acquiring an additional 73,583 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $699,916,000 after acquiring an additional 38,800 shares during the period. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 48.5% during the 1st quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 915,012 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,252,000 after acquiring an additional 298,895 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSN. Wedbush upped their target price on VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $352.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $313.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $300.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.48. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $324.63. The company has a market cap of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.38 and a beta of 0.66.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $443.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.58 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 49.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.84%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.07, for a total value of $155,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,579,612.65. This trade represents a 1.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.99, for a total value of $1,016,367.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 361,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,469,896.73. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,156 shares of company stock valued at $14,582,030. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc. operates critical internet infrastructure, best known for managing the domain-name registries for .com and .net. It provides the systems that allow domain names in these extensions to be registered and resolved through the Domain Name System, working with registrars that serve businesses and individuals. The company also provides registry services for other domain extensions and supports the security and stability of the internet's naming infrastructure. Its services are used globally through a network of registrars and other internet service providers.

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