Focus Partners Wealth Has $1.08 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 31.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,226 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted 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 worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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 Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $281.08. The stock had a trading volume of 786,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,988. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.79 and a fifty-two week high of $288.95. The firm has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $258.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.57.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 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.