Ethic Inc. Sells 2,232 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Ethic Inc. cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,156 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,232 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,711 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 81,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 65,199 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $286.47 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $257.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.37.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.67.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total value of $115,426.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,826 shares of company stock worth $1,821,354 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.