Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Purchases 14,552 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

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

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised 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. raised its position in VeriSign by 106.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 48.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of VRSN traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $286.85. The company had a trading volume of 777,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,364. The firm has a market cap of $26.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $280.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.67. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $290.38.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.87, for a total value of $1,127,480.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 531,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,890,573.64. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.17, for a total value of $145,375.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,270 shares in the company, valued at $11,104,805.90. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,503 shares of company stock valued at $7,158,975 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by 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.