Bessemer Group Inc. Trims Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 65.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,147 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,682 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 48.8% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at $155,236,450. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,002 shares of company stock worth $7,013,599 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $287.68 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.49 and a 1 year high of $288.95. The company has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $277.33 and a 200-day moving average of $243.59.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors 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 is currently 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.

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