VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Bought by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 31.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in VeriSign by 788.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in VeriSign by 120.8% in 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 buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Wedbush upped their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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 increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four equities 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $281.15 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $275.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.86. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The company has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.49 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total transaction of $892,452.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,567,675.16. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $140,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,954,280. This trade represents a 1.39% 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. Insiders sold 25,100 shares of company stock valued at $6,803,294 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.