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

Amiral Gestion bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 30,474 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,307,000. VeriSign accounts for about 4.0% of Amiral Gestion's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $155,236,450. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,735 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $2,246,382. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $10.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $269.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,191,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 757,231. The firm has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $261.68 and a 200-day moving average of $228.61. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.79 and a 12 month high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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.

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.