Axa S.A. Increases Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

AXA S.A. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 58.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,225 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,163 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in VeriSign by 2.1% during 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 boosted its position in VeriSign by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $273,853,000 after buying an additional 229,311 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in VeriSign by 10.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,840,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in VeriSign by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 974,617 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $201,707,000 after buying an additional 98,985 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN traded down $3.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $281.41. The stock had a trading volume of 953,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 749,908. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.43. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.51 and a fifty-two week high of $288.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. 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. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

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.