Vest Financial LLC Has $2.99 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in VeriSign (VRSN) by 122.2% in Q4 to 12,303 shares, valued at about $2.99 million.
• Analysts have trended more positive recently — the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $317.67, and several firms (Citigroup, Baird, JPMorgan) raised targets in April.
• VeriSign topped quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.34 and revenue of $428.9M (up 6.6% YoY) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 ($3.24 annualized, ~1.2% yield).

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 122.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,303 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,765 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $654,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 11.5% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 357,611 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $99,977,000 after acquiring an additional 36,829 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 9.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,719 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,435 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,647,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRSN. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three research 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $317.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.8%

VRSN stock opened at $272.60 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $249.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $246.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $24.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total transaction of $124,041.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,501,044.20. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,490 shares of company stock worth $1,981,790. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

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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