Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Makes New $8.45 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,221 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,449,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 0.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,056,268,000 after buying an additional 68,355 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in VeriSign by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,135,632,000 after purchasing an additional 73,931 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 32.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $670,685,000 after purchasing an additional 44,751 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. Zacks Research downgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,812,499.72. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total transaction of $123,857.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,613,759.23. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 40,833 shares of company stock valued at $10,041,648 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $250.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $247.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.27. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.01 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The company had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis.

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.