Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Invests $13.64 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 56,136 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at $654,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in VeriSign by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 357,611 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $99,977,000 after purchasing an additional 36,829 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in VeriSign by 159.6% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 5,626 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,719 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,647,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $288.21 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $254.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.08. The company has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85 and a beta of 0.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders sold 6,992 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,748. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.