VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 33,723.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,770,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,762,317 shares during the period. VeriSign makes up 0.8% of Aberdeen Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $781,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 208.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 9,046 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,116,154,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $944,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 16.1% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 237,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $59,272,000 after purchasing an additional 33,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 186.5% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 234,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,172,000 after purchasing an additional 152,478 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total value of $960,597.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 394,927 shares in the company, valued at $114,959,300.43. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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. Insiders have sold a total of 49,156 shares of company stock valued at $14,582,030 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price target on VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wedbush increased their target price on VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of VeriSign from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Four research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $313.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.38 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $300.21 and a 200-day moving average of $274.48. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $324.63.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.58 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 49.06%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 34.84%.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. operates critical internet infrastructure, best known for managing the domain-name registries for .com and .net. It provides the systems that allow domain names in these extensions to be registered and resolved through the Domain Name System, working with registrars that serve businesses and individuals. The company also provides registry services for other domain extensions and supports the security and stability of the internet’s naming infrastructure. Its services are used globally through a network of registrars and other internet service providers.