Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd increased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 103.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,661 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,552 shares during the quarter. VeriSign makes up about 1.3% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target 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.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.4%

VeriSign stock traded down $3.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $281.39. The stock had a trading volume of 532,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 757,810. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.49 and a 12-month high of $291.54. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $281.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.37.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share.

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 dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,743,860.12. The trade was a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,004 shares of company stock valued at $9,305,492 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About VeriSign

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.