Janus Henderson Group PLC Lowers Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,172 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,369 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $352,071,000 after purchasing an additional 35,326 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,853,000 after buying an additional 229,311 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $265,894,000 after buying an additional 116,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $222,840,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $281.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a PE ratio of 35.14 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $168.79 and a 52 week high of $288.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $259.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.