Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 1,139 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 16.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,859 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in VeriSign by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 18,686 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,744,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in VeriSign by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 260,119 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $66,036,000 after buying an additional 14,392 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 28.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its position in VeriSign by 103.4% during the first quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 5,273 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 2,680 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares in the company, valued at $155,236,450. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,002 shares of company stock worth $2,525,659 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $3.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $277.89. The stock had a trading volume of 708,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 757,034. 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 $26.09 billion, a PE ratio of 34.74 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

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.