30,474 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Bought by Amiral Gestion

Amiral Gestion purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 30,474 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,307,000. VeriSign comprises 4.0% of Amiral Gestion's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,129,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $143,319,000 after buying an additional 504,748 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted 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 valued at $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.00, for a total transaction of $141,282.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,200,758. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total transaction of $1,402,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 553,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $155,236,450. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,501 shares of company stock worth $2,387,664 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $2.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $267.12. The company had a trading volume of 303,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,422. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $262.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.17. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $168.79 and a one year high of $288.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.41 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 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

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.