VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 33.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 915,977 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 450,982 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.95% of VeriSign worth $189,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,639,000 after buying an additional 199,583 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 2,218 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $600,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $989,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $3.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $281.41. 953,860 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 750,456. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.67. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.51 and a 1 year high of $288.95. The company has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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 target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report 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 Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84 % 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, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.