VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 296.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 412,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 308,411 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $102,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in VeriSign by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in VeriSign by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 146,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,495,000 after acquiring an additional 22,020 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S raised its position in VeriSign by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,609,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,688 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,179,000 after acquiring an additional 11,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,872,034. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $290.02 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $274.47 and its 200-day moving average is $260.64.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. Analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

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.