Robinhood Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Robinhood Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 37,770 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,501,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $699,916,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in VeriSign by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,247,000 after purchasing an additional 246,887 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $281.80 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The company has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $272.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $264.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results 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. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,752,855.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total transaction of $916,905.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 401,389 shares in the company, valued at $111,525,933.65. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $10,059,796. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

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.