1,920 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Acquired by Lewis Asset Management LLC

Lewis Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,920 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 35.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $685,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its position in VeriSign by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 358.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,017 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,775,000 after buying an additional 54,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter worth approximately $329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of VRSN traded up $3.75 on Tuesday, reaching $287.92. The stock had a trading volume of 610,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,337. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a PE ratio of 35.20 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $280.89 and a 200 day moving average of $252.72. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.49 and a twelve month high of $291.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company 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 was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.71, for a total value of $1,383,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 544,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,743,860.12. This trade represents a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,278,592. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st.

VeriSign 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.