Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Invests $374,000 in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,805 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,129,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $81,003,000 after buying an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $189,274,000 after acquiring an additional 301,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 322.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,639,000 after acquiring an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $284.55. 1,027,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 743,942. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.72 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.80 and a fifty-two week high of $285.65.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.