Groupama Asset Managment Invests $814,000 in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,277 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Groupe la Francaise raised its position in VeriSign by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $508,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 100.9% during the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 10,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,642,000 after acquiring an additional 5,343 shares during the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth $1,349,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 296.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 412,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $102,449,000 after acquiring an additional 308,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,690,172.33. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 worth $7,872,034. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $290.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $274.47 and its 200-day moving average is $260.64.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.