Prudential PLC Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Prudential PLC grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 69.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,612 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,762 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $312,900,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $985,063,000 after purchasing an additional 426,492 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 191.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1,035.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383,771 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $294.92 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $279.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. 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. 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, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total transaction of $146,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,872,615.95. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,128 shares of company stock worth $2,834,304. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.