Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Purchases 2,334 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,918 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,334 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in VeriSign by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $352,071,000 after buying an additional 35,326 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $273,853,000 after buying an additional 229,311 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in VeriSign by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $265,894,000 after buying an additional 116,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $155,236,450. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,002 shares of company stock valued at $7,013,599 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $287.68 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.29. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.49 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The firm has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 0.77.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report 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.

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