Hsbc Holdings PLC Reduces Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 204,902 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,290 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $49,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.1% during the third quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 312 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% 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, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% 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 a total of 16,896 shares of company stock worth $4,739,271 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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, Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $247.22 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $282.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.20.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

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.