Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 10,065 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 50.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,040 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,065 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRSN. 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 increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock 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.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 544,772 shares in the company, valued at $150,743,860.12. This trade represents a 0.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.17, for a total transaction of $145,375.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,270 shares in the company, valued at $11,104,805.90. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,004 shares of company stock worth $9,305,492. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $3.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $281.39. 532,590 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 758,827. The company has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $281.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $291.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. VeriSign's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

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.