Deutsche Bank AG Invests $145.36 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 577,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $145,362,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in VeriSign by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 6.1% in the first quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total transaction of $140,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total value of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,100,984.85. This represents a 1.43% 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 have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3%

VRSN stock opened at $273.03 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $272.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.18. The firm has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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.