Bank of America Corp DE Has $57.13 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,060 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,628 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.29% of VeriSign worth $57,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in 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. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $352,071,000 after buying an additional 35,326 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in 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 valued at $265,894,000 after buying an additional 116,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $222,840,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $283.14. The stock had a trading volume of 710,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,999. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $256.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $168.79 and a 1-year high of $288.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

About VeriSign

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.