Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $1.63 Million Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 45.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,388 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its position in VeriSign by 788.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 429,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,728,474.67. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 20,196 shares of company stock valued at $5,559,420 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $255.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.23. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

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.