VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Holdings Boosted by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP boosted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 228.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,653 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,325 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 3,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,371 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Rothschild Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,996,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 112.6% during the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 3,420 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,316,832.12. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 6,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,928 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $296.59 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $275.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.27. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77 and a beta of 0.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

About VeriSign

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.