Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,068,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Danske Bank A S increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,609,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in VeriSign by 17.7% in the fourth 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. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,691 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in VeriSign by 208.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 9,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after acquiring an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 33,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,142,891 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 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 objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company 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 given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $276.74 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $272.92 and a 200 day moving average of $263.98. The company has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.70.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.14%.

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.