Raiffeisen Bank International AG Reduces Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Raiffeisen Bank International AG cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 86.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,805 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $292.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $279.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.88. The company has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The company had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total value of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total transaction of $960,597.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 394,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,959,300.43. The trade was a 0.83% 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 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,235 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.