Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 9,290 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 104.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total value of $63,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,286,884.83. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 23,746 shares of company stock worth $6,451,479 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $256.43 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $279.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.67.

VeriSign Company 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.