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

LBP AM SA acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,120 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,512 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,865,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $8,310,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $578,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total value of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,004 shares of company stock valued at $9,305,492. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $3.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $281.39. 532,590 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 757,810. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $281.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.82. The company has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $291.54.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.