Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 2,920 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 398,964 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,920 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.42% of VeriSign worth $82,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $141,129,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake 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 valued at $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 330,561 shares during the period. Troy Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $189,274,000 after acquiring an additional 301,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 322.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,639,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $278.36 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $244.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.32. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $279.94. The company has a market capitalization of $26.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRSN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report).

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.