UBS Group AG Boosts Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 191.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $152,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased 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 worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 51.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 147 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $268.66 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.05.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total value of $124,041.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,115 shares in the company, valued at $7,501,044.20. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,981,790 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.