Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 8,370 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 175.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,148 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,370 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 121,000.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,537,000 after buying an additional 6,050 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.3% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 18,686 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,744,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in VeriSign by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 260,119 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $66,036,000 after acquiring an additional 14,392 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,525,659. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock traded up $7.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $285.02. 670,867 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 756,691. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.49 and a 12 month high of $288.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $265.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.63 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

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.