Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Purchases New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 28,105 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,882,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,445,949 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,323,807,000 after acquiring an additional 59,957 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,266,085 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,609,518,000 after acquiring an additional 59,048 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,484,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,145,000 after acquiring an additional 13,379 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,171,136 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $260,531,000 after acquiring an additional 100,520 shares during the period. Finally, Echo Street Capital Management LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC now owns 864,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $144,667,000 after acquiring an additional 12,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $193.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $207.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.64. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.25 and a fifty-two week high of $228.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The information services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.17. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.13% and a net margin of 47.30%. The firm had revenue of $369.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.12, for a total value of $400,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 672,444 shares in the company, valued at $134,569,493.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $122,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,799 shares in the company, valued at $9,159,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.12, for a total value of $400,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 672,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,569,493.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,733 shares of company stock worth $12,645,242. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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VeriSign, Inc provides domain name registry services and Internet infrastructure, which enables Internet navigation for many of the world’s most recognized domain names. It enables the security, stability, and resiliency of key Internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services.