Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 7,369 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,172 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,369 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,639,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 3.6% in the 4th 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 during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $600,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $989,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price 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.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.7%

VRSN traded down $4.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $274.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 163,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,316. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.79 and a 1 year high of $288.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's 50-day moving average is $261.68 and its 200-day moving average is $228.61.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total transaction of $1,402,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $155,236,450. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,246,382 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.