Amiral Gestion Acquires Shares of 30,474 VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Amiral Gestion acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,474 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,307,000. VeriSign accounts for 4.0% of Amiral Gestion's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional raised its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Pflug Koory LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 700 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 570 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in VeriSign by 206.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 53,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 36,032 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $269.14. 700,689 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,005. The company has a market capitalization of $25.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.79 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $262.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm 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 business's 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.66, for a total value of $561,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 551,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,819,072.50. The trade was a 0.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,246,382. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRSN. 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 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

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.