Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,806 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN traded up $3.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $285.84. The stock had a trading volume of 116,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 751,086. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.49 and a 1-year high of $290.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $279.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.10.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 544,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,743,860.12. This represents a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,503 shares of company stock valued at $7,158,975 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.