Morningstar Investment Services LLC Lowers Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC cut its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 47.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,792 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,541 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at $406,000. Trust Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at $271,000. Parcion Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at $439,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 130.3% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 304 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $2.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $283.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 359,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,026. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $280.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.39. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.49 and a 1 year high of $291.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 515,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $145,112,452.20. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total transaction of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,769 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders sold 40,004 shares of company stock worth $11,278,592. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.