Assetmark Inc. Reduces Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Assetmark Inc. cut its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 36.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,016 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,512 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.3% in the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,461 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 17.0% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 406 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $3.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $265.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,337,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,763. The company has a fifty day moving average of $281.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.49 and a 12 month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total value of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total transaction of $562,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 515,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $145,112,452.20. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,604 shares of company stock valued at $11,165,804 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.