Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,026 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in VeriSign by 24.0% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 636 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 135,520 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $516,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $3,348,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
VeriSign Price Performance
Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $2.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $273.01. The company had a trading volume of 356,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,373. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $264.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.64. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.49 and a 1-year high of $288.95. The stock has a market cap of $25.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.13 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.
VeriSign Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at $155,236,450. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $112,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,501 shares of company stock worth $2,387,664 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective 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.
View Our Latest Research Report on VRSN
VeriSign Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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