Convergence Investment Partners LLC Purchases 3,619 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,441 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,619 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 394.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $154,325,000 after purchasing an additional 440,289 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 13.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in VeriSign by 191.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $117,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383,771 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $297.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $262.13 and a 200-day moving average of $248.59. The stock has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.88 and a beta of 0.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,354. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.67.

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.