New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,990 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,039 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of VeriSign worth $15,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total value of $63,957.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,286,884.83. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total transaction of $828,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 426,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,935,320.66. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,746 shares of company stock worth $6,451,479. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $256.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $279.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.58. The firm has a market cap of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71. 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, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

VeriSign 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.