Fundsmith LLP Cuts Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Fundsmith LLP cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,713 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 57,754 shares during the period. Fundsmith LLP owned 0.06% of VeriSign worth $14,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Danske Bank A S raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,609,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in VeriSign by 208.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,636,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. 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 reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.35, for a total transaction of $146,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at $10,100,984.85. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total value of $960,828.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 398,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,907,593.24. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,624. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $291.93 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

About VeriSign

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.