Captrust Financial Advisors Acquires 6,224 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 35.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,665 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,224 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its stake 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 worth $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $352,071,000 after acquiring an additional 35,326 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $273,853,000 after acquiring an additional 229,311 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 10.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 116,833 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $222,840,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3 %

VeriSign stock opened at $281.41 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.51 and a 12 month high of $288.95. The stock has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.43.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

VeriSign 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.