3,120 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Purchased by Lbp Am Sa

LBP AM SA purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,120 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,512 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $11,865,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $8,310,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,934 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,677,000 after buying an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $578,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 524,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,811,291.88. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,004 shares of company stock worth $9,305,492. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock traded down $3.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $281.39. 532,590 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 757,810. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $291.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 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 business had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.