OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys 1,938 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 15.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,177 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in VeriSign by 788.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in VeriSign by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $274.82 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $275.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.60. The company has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 21,300 shares of company stock valued at $5,770,842 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Wedbush increased their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

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.