Alta Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Alta Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,831 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 21,877 shares during the quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of VeriSign worth $17,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $281.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $272.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.52. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.49 and a 12 month high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $558,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 542,772 shares in the company, valued at $151,585,364.16. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,002 shares of company stock worth $4,467,769. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. 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.

VeriSign Company 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.

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